The Deep End
by Irene Claire
Summary: NOW COMPLETE. DEA Agent Joe Cano gradually falls off the deep end sparked during a leave of absence. Demoted, the work stresses and failures in his career become the direct responsibility of Five-0, and especially of Danny Williams. You can guess that Danny whump and angsty Steve are coming along in this one! Cano character based on my prior stories and especially "Amnesia".
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: DEA Agents Joe Cano and Girardi are OC's established in my previous stories. Especially in "A Birthday to Remember" and "Amnesia" where no love was lost between Five-0 and Joe Cano. Hito Matsui, Benji Sato were also introduced in "A Birthday to Remember". _

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter One – The Deep End**

DEA Agent Joe Cano returned to work just under six months after his altercation with Detective Danny Williams that had broken his jaw, nose and two ribs. The two had come to blows at the end of a tense joint raid where Cano's actions had left Kono blindly open for an assault by escaping Yakuza. Pinned down in a vicious fire-fight, she and another DEA agent had almost been killed until Danny and Chin had provided back-up.

Kono had been grazed in the temple by a bullet and Danny had been hit by friendly fire. While neither wound was grievous, Danny's adrenalin had led him directly to Cano and the angry confrontation had escalated immediately. In a fury, Danny had pummeled the man into the ground before being pulled off by Steve. Afterwards, Danny had been shocked by what he'd done to Cano and had even tried to apologize while the agent was still hospitalized; but that was to no avail.

Joe Cano could have returned earlier to work, but he had opted for an extended leave of absence in order to rest and heal properly. At least those were the words he spoke aloud when asked on his first day back in the office.

"Yeah, I feel great after the time off. Thanks for asking." The sentences were easily rolling off his lips now after having practiced them for hours at home. And even the smile he had plastered on his tanned face seemed quite real to anyone swinging by his desk to welcome him back. In fact, his team had thrown him a welcome back party of sorts and he even had adequately pulled off being quite touched by their gesture. The new Cano was pleasant and seemed happy. If anyone was confused by the changes in his attitude, they only could smile and be pleased at the lack of tension in the office.

But in reality his senior supervisor, Bobby Girardi, had called him personally two weeks prior to his rejoining of the DEA offices. Out of courtesy, Girardi explained the reasons behind and then prepped him for his new desk job that would have limited functional access and no direct reports until further notice.

He had tried to down play it, but Cano knew it for what it was .. a distinct slap in the face. A demotion for his perceived unprofessional conduct and bad decisions that put his peers at risk during two different past missions, both of which had included the Five-0 team. But already practicing his new role, he'd unexpectedly been quiet with Girardi and hadn't argued or gotten in his face. The change in demeanor had left Girardi nearly speechless and he had ended their conversation almost happy with evading the expected clash of personalities.

"It will be great to have you back Joe. You sound good." Cano had been tamping down his internal fury on the other side of the phone as he listened to Girardi's relieved and almost smiling voice.

"We'll work through this together and get things back on track."

"Sure we will." Cano had muttered angrily into the dead phone as he slammed it back into the charger. "Absolutely, Bobby. No doubt."

The time off had only stoked his fiery rage at the Five-0 team and for Danny Williams in particular. And two weeks ago, the news about his demotion only provided an additional source of hot fuel that had escalated his thoughts of revenge. In the two weeks before returning to work, whispering thoughts had become possibilities and these had then taken flight as he made plans for a proper comeuppance.

His emotional stresses quickly led to unreasonable beliefs and Cano was soon blaming the Five-0 team for the death of one of his own undercover operatives, Special Agent Kenneth Ito. He had mentored Ito personally and the two had been very close. Ken's death wasn't even remotely related to Five-0, but Cano had originally taken the loss hard. And now, his mind becoming a bit more delusional .. a bit more warped, Cano blamed them regardless of the real truth related to an undercover op simply gone completely and utterly wrong. And now, his demotion was also not of his responsibility. It was out of his control and more specifically Danny William's personal fault.

"You did this to me. All of you." He whispered in his silent condo after the fateful discussion with Bobby Girardi. His condo overlooked the distant marinas and it was only nine in the morning, but Cano sipped his scotch as he considered his new truths and validated his next steps. Danny's face was foremost in his mind as he angrily spouted his next words into the air.

"Yes, you did this. You managed to kill Ken and then took Hito away from me. Away from DEA's hands when he was ours to persecute. And now, you've taken my career."

He had taken a deeper sip from the glass and swirled the burning amber liquid around his mouth as he smiled crookedly. "And it's going to be my turn. My turn to make you pay."

And Cano happily didn't have long to wait for a new joint operation with the Five-0 team. As his divine luck would have it, the Yakuza soldier Benji Sato reared his ugly head only a few short weeks after Cano returned to work full time.

Benji had many aliases and had been Hito Matsui's key and most trusted underling. Originally escaping the authorities after Kono had killed Hito in a hostage situation at a local marina, Benji had slowly been rising within the Yakuza ranks. He was also one of the last ones to have seen Kenneth Ito alive and Cano was anxious to capture the man and bring him to justice.

DEA intelligence identified Benji in covert photos and had linked him now as a critical decision-maker for a pending drug deal on the Island with an Italian cartel. The treasure trove was destined for their Japanese strong-hold.

The new Joe Cano sat pleasantly amongst his team members at Girardi's kick-off meeting that introduced everyone to their next mission. He hid his reactions and offered no comments or questions related to the announcement that the DEA would again team with Five-0. But he was eager to review the warehouse schematics and plans as they gathered around their own smart table.

"Questions anyone?" Girardi asked the team in general. But he looked squarely at Cano with a frank sincerity. "Are you okay with this Joe? I need everyone one of us on the same page and working together."

Glancing up from the schematics, Joe schooled his features and nodded politely. In fact, his words were the most honest they had been since he'd returned to work.

"I have no problems with this. None at all. I'm looking forward to bringing Benji Sato in .. for Ken's sake."

The entire team murmured its approval at his words and Girardi also couldn't help but agree. Joe had been an entirely different person since returning from leave and Girardi liked the new man. Cano had become a team player and actively shared his wealth of knowledge with the younger and newer staff members. He didn't see a reason to mistrust or be concerned that Cano might actually be harboring such anger nor bore such a horrific grudge.

Closing the meeting, Girardi smiled and then emphatically slapped the table with his hand as he stood up from his chair.

"Alright people. I will personally be meeting with Five-0 later this week to discuss the plans and to coordinate our resources for the pending raid. We will reconvene together and I'll provide a detailed summary."

A brief flicker of annoyance crossed Cano's face before it was quickly pushed down and stifled. In his other more prestigious professional life, Cano would have held that responsibility. But he could certainly use the time to his best interests as he scanned the warehouse schematic. More information would be forthcoming as plans were solidified. With continued luck, not only would he bring down Benji Sato, but also Danny Williams.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	2. Chapter 2

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: DEA Agents Joe Cano and Girardi are OC's established in my previous stories. Especially in "A Birthday to Remember" and "Amnesia" where no love was lost between Five-0 and Joe Cano._

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Two – The Deep End**

There was total silence in the bull-pen when Steve laid out the directive given to them by Governor Denning to once again team with the local DEA offices. Danny's unease was most palpable as the announcement was made and Steve presented the high level information provided to him thus far.

He had expected the general response from his own team since he had the same personal reaction in the Governor's office.

"You're kidding, right?" Steve's comment was not exactly professional, but it was honest and Denning had given him a wry, understanding smile.

"I'm serious. Very serious." Meaning the combined DEA, HPD and Five-0 forces, Denning had added. "They're hammering us with activity .. trying to distract and divide our energies. This would be the third major drug deal with a very determined faction of the Yakuza." The Governor slid a thumb drive of the schematics and most current files of the DEA's intelligence across his desk. "I'd like to damage the Yakuza to the fullest extent possible - and wherever possible."

Steve considered the rampant activities and knew that Denning's words rang true. The activities of the factions had been escalating and were relentless. The DEA numbers were limited and torn; both HPD and Five-0 should be assisting whenever called upon.

"Bobby Girardi will be calling to setup a more formal meeting with you. But review and share this with your team as a pre-read of sorts. These are warehouse schematics and particular intel they are sharing with us."

Steve finally had accepted the thumb drive grudgingly and couldn't help an adamant sarcastic remark. "I hope there's been a few changes over there. I need to protect my own people …"

Stayed by the Governor's knowing hand, Steve didn't have the opportunity to finish his statement. "I understand and agree with your concerns. And we did discuss it." Denning leaned back in his chair before continuing with a further explanation.

"Cano may be part of the larger DEA team, but he's been demoted. According to Girardi, the DEA has acknowledged and has taken full responsibility for that man's actions. He endangered his own team, Danny and then of course, Kono. So while yes, you may be exposed to him during this mission … Cano has zero decision-making authority and will not have a primary role."

But Steve's own team was not confident in that information as he presented it to them and plugged in the thumb drive to their smart table. He was surprised when Chin was the first to break the awkward silence and adamantly voice his concerns.

"I don't like it. And I don't trust it." Chin was disgusted as he simultaneously rolled through the files on the thumb drive and blatantly disagreed with their orders.

"They've proven themselves to be an illicit bunch and while Girardi's a decent guy, our experiences have obviously been problematic."

"Painful I'd say." The not so quiet remark was ruefully made by Kono as she unconsciously ran her fingers over her temple and into her hair where she'd been creased so many months ago.

Glancing once towards Danny who was still remaining queerly silent, Steve sighed as he brought their attention back to the warehouse schematics.

"Agreed and understood. But we have our marching orders and will manage not only our part with the Yakuza, but also our interactions with the DEA with the utmost diligence."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Cano's glee was in over-drive when he left the office a few hours earlier than planned with the excuse of needing to get to a doctor's appointment. He patiently explained to Girardi that he would be back within the hour since the appointment was close to the office - and after all, it would be his last official checkup of sorts.

But in reality, Girardi had told his team that he'd be meeting with Five-0 the next afternoon to review preliminary plans for their newest joint mission. Cano was anxious in his need to run a newly conceived and very important personal errand.

"An appetizer of sorts." He whispered out loud to himself as he slammed his car door. "A teaser. Something to get the blood going."

His new idea was foreboding and done simply out of sheer spite. With his access to a multitude of computer systems and records, Cano still had his own open files on Danny Williams and his family. When the office was virtually deserted during lunch, he'd sent a picture of Grace Williams to his cell phone and confirmed the time. The available information on their Five-0 peers was nothing new that the DEA hadn't had rights to in the past. But Cano's use of it now was definitely out of the ordinary and would provide him with a resource to plant an ominous threat.

Wearing a nondescript but expensive windbreaker, dark aviator sunglasses and a neatly emblazoned military baseball cap, he adopted a severe limp as he entered a local florist. Purchasing two yellow roses, he parked near the school and chose one flower. He then limped his way to Sacred Heart and waited for school to be let out for the afternoon. Brazenly, he stood slightly hunched near two mothers who were also waiting for their children and smiled warmly at them acting for all he was worth like a proud grandfather.

"I'm here to see my grand-daughter." Cano chuckled and brandished the pretty yellow flower in their faces.

"It's a surprise you see." Acting harmless and doddering, Cano was convincing and soon had the two women gushing about the lovely gesture.

"But I can't stay .. family issues .. you see." The women frowned unhappily on his behalf and one even gently laid her hand on his arm in sympathy.

"That's so _sad_ …" She stressed with tears in her voice. "Just so very very _sad_ for you and your grand-daughter."

A few minutes later, Cano spotted Grace Williams and doggedly intercepted her before she could make it down the stairs.

"For you dear Grace." Cano said softly as Grace briefly hesitated and then accepted the yellow rose with a confused expression. Tapping the brim of his cap, he patted her once on the head and limped away sadly with shoulders hunched for the benefit of anyone watching and in the total opposite direction of his car.

As she held the flower and watched the man walk away, Grace stood for a minute on the stairs before shrugging and running off to her mother's car. Having just pulled up, Rachel was on the phone and had missed the brief exchange with Cano, but smiled when she saw the rose in Grace's hand.

"That's pretty." Assuming she'd got it in school for some reason, Rachel was still on the phone and she mouthed the words to Grace as she got in the back seat. But Grace didn't have time to say anything about the rose or the stranger since her mother was still on the call and already driving away. Sticking the rose in the side of her backpack so it peeked out from a pocket, the yellow flower would essentially be completely forgotten until the next day.

The two women who had been talking to Cano grimaced sadly as they witnessed the very heartbreaking family situation that seemed to happen right in front of their eyes.

"Such a shame!" One whispered to the other as they watched Cano step away from Grace and leave in a forlorn shuffle down the sidewalk.

"He's such a lovely gentleman."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	3. Chapter 3

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: Special thanks for CinderH for the beta and helping to keep my head on straight with the saber toothed bunny's plot line! I'm not used to writing "mean stuff" and Cano is all about being mean. If he's gonna be bad … then he must be super bad. Hang on to your bottoms for the next few chapters .. with luck the suspense will build and hold. _

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Three – The Deep End**

In the middle of the night, Joe Cano parked on a remote and dark side street that was two blocks away from Danny William's apartment complex. Actually, nearing three o'clock in the morning it was either late at night or very early in the morning depending upon how you set your internal clock. By Cano's own estimation, it was late and he had hesitated just once on executing this portion of his idea which had been hatched when Girardi had confirmed the meeting with Five-0's Steve McGarrett. Step one had been more than easy with his quick errand to present the first yellow rose to Grace Williams at Sacred Heart Academy.

There was a flicker of remorse and he'd almost felt bad when Grace had so innocently accepted the flower. But remembering that it wasn't about the child, Cano had re-focused on the father and how he'd ruined Cano's own career.

"Check. Done." Cano whispered tonelessly about his first completed step as he sat in the dark. But he scowled and gently massaged his jaw where a true dull ache flared along his healed injury. Though his injuries had long gone away, Cano often felt small pains and aches. Again, constant reminders of other things that he placed directly on Williams' shoulders.

And then he had admittedly gotten overly nervous with managing step two and so had rented a small compact car to avoid using his own vehicle. If anyone asked, his car would be in the shop being repaired … but they wouldn't have the opportunity to do that since he planned to return the rental first thing in the morning and well before the work day even started. Parking his own vehicle at Honolulu International Airport, he had gotten the compact from an onsite vendor. Using cash for all the transactions, swapping cars back would be equally easy in just a few hours time.

He was dressed in completely black clothing and his gloved hands held a very sharp switchblade that was currently folded and sheathed. The second yellow rose lay diagonally across his lap and stood out in an oddly beautiful stark contrast to his bleakly morbid attire.

So now it was time for step two which was more risky but a very necessary portion of orchestrating the complete idea. And if it went as Cano planned, the two combined steps would tickle Danny Williams' brain with an undefined but very strong sense of fear.

Glaring down at the rose, Cano became angrier. "I need to _unsettle_ you … you're much too cocky, Detective .. much too over-confident."

Exiting the small rental car, he held the rose in one hand as he walked briskly and directly to the complex parking lot by taking darkened alleys and private yards wherever possible. Planning ahead, his route back would again be well shadowed and would shave a good thirty seconds off his time. When he reached the parking lot, the Camaro was parked off to the side and Cano didn't hesitate now as he flipped the blade open and efficiently slashed at each and every expensive tire.

His warped sense of accomplishment escalated and drove away any remaining doubts with each stabbing swipe of the knife, and he was grinning hysterically by the time he finished with the fourth tire. Biting back a laugh, he carefully closed and put the switchblade in his pocket and then smoothed the rose between his fingers.

A few seconds later, the stem of the flower was positioned with particular care under the driver's side windshield wiper. The green stem and a few leaves were trapped between the wiper and the glass, while the yellow bud of the rose trailed straight up the windshield.

"Now, completely done." Cano whispered once again as he walked away without a backwards glance. Too soon, he had disappeared easily and silently with no witnesses to the damaging event. Within thirty minutes of making it back to where he had parked the rental car, Cano was home, already showered, freshly dressed and happily sipping his preferred scotch drink in anticipation of a new workday.

As he stared out a window, he wondered out loud. "Will you worry now Detective? How good are your skills when you see your daughter and put two and two together?" Hoping that the two yellow roses would be reunited when Danny picked up Grace for the weekend, Cano wanted the seeds of fear to be firmly planted in the doting father.

"You won't know what, how or _when_ something else might be coming next." But feeling some minor discomfort in his jaw, Cano used it as an excuse to take two painkillers. Prescribed by his family doctor for the severe twinges of ongoing pain during his leave of absence, Cano easily justified their continued use as he swallowed them down with a bit of scotch.

It was officially Friday morning and the first glimmers of sunlight were beginning to brighten the sky. With a pleasant weekend coming up, Cano would use the time to fine-tune a much more drastic lesson that would be taught on Monday.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: DEA Agents Joe Cano and Girardi are OC's established in my previous stories. Especially in "A Birthday to Remember" and "Amnesia" where no love was lost between Five-0 and Joe Cano._

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Four – The Deep End**

At barely eight o'clock Friday morning, Steve was already pinching the bridge of his nose in pained agony as he held his cell phone two inches away from his ear. He knew it was going to be an extremely bad day as he listened to Danny loudly rant about his completely devastated and obviously severely vandalized car.

"_Every tire, Steven. Each one has been slashed to ribbons. And this damnable yellow rose … what the hell is that about?" _

His steaming cup of coffee already forgotten, Steve listened to every single word his irate friend said as he simultaneously grabbed his keys and strode purposefully out to his truck.

"I'll be there in five. Danno, calm down …we'll check it out together." Groaning, as his unintentional words sparked a new tirade of fury, Steve left his driveway and was unable to get another decent point in edge-wise.

"_You want me to what? Calm **down**? I can't believe you just said that …never tell an angry person to calm down, Steven. Never. And I don't need to **calm down**, Steven. I need a crime scene unit and then I need a tow!"_

Wracking his brain, Steve was considering any enemies that might have wanted to make a point and was coming up empty. "Call Duke .. get HPD there. I'm on my way .. Danno, anyone come to mind? Or maybe it could just be totally random …"

The sarcastic puff of air on the other end effectively put a stop to the conversation._ "I did already. I called HPD first and they're here now. Duke checked and there's been no reports of random vandalism even remotely like this in the area … and no, no I can't think of anyone."_

A few minutes later Steve stood next to a red-faced Danny on a grassy section of lawn as HPD recorded the damages to the victimized Camaro. The car sat on its rims all the way around with bits of black rubber ripped and sticking oddly out from each maimed tire. The yellow rose was bagged at Danny's request and the car was being thoroughly processed. Steve hung his head and almost wanted to hide in embarrassment as Danny refused to calm down and spat outraged demands at the HPD crew. But to their credit, his HPD friends and acquaintances were all taking it in good stride as they dealt with the important task at hand. Circumspect smiles and grins were shared as they diligently went about their work and catalogued everything in, on or near the Camaro. Truth be told, the vandalism aimed at one of their own equally antagonized them and not a stone or possible speck of a clue would go unturned.

Steve heaved a sigh at the obviously very particular and focused damage. A kid might do one tire .. maybe two. But all four … and so viciously spiked and so meticulously damaged? Steve wasn't so sure now as he surveyed the damage first hand and felt the first stirrings of unease. The person or persons who had done this were simply extremely malicious and very angry.

He sighed again as Danny left his side and got in the face of one of the HPD investigators that was peering under the Camaro's front-end.

"I need my car back in one piece … one complete and _whole_ piece … by the end of the day. Actually you know what? No, _**before**_ the end of the day. So let's get this done right, but as quickly as possible."

Intentionally diffusing the one-sided conversation, Steve pulled at Danny's shirt to get his attention. The investigator grinned his thanks behind Danny's back as he quickly fell to his knees to escape by hiding his head and upper body under the chassis.

"You've got Gracie for the whole weekend?" Steve finally realized the additional reasons behind the anxiety laced tone as Danny stalked around his car and furiously muttered to himself.

"Yes, yes I do. _How_ …?" And Danny's arms flailed uselessly in the air as his frustration hit new heights. "What am I going to do this weekend if it's not back?"

Bending down to check out the rims, Danny slapped the side of his car. "I bet the rims are damaged too. Fantastic."

But Steve dared to smile as he dangled his own truck keys in front of Danny's face. "One thing at a time, D. My truck is yours when you need to pick Grace up from school if the Camaro's not repaired by this afternoon. Other than that, I'm sure we can have this all wrapped up before the end of the day since it doesn't take long to swap out new tires. The rims will be fine. You'll have wheels one way or another for the weekend."

Danny marginally relaxed as he ran both hands up into his hair and could only find one miserably spouted word as he woefully tallied up the possible damages done to his car. Wounded by what also seemed very much like a personal attack, he had a busy morning ahead of him searching through his own files of possible suspects before the Bobby Girardi meeting.

"Thanks." Catching Steve's eye and seeing the understanding expression that combined both worry and some amusement, Danny shook his head ruefully at his misplaced gruffness. He finally decided to let some of it go as he managed a short grin.

"Really, I mean it. Thank you."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Steve and Danny met with Bobby Girardi at the Five-0 offices later that same morning to review and discuss the joint plans for the following week's planned mission. But Chin and Kono would carry on researching their current and past case files for possible suspects with particular vendettas against Five-0 or Danny.

Girardi had come alone and was wrapping up key next steps before leaving. "We'll need to get our primaries together on Monday and Tuesday in order to run through extensive mock-up maneuvers and placement of key personnel in the warehouse." Steve appreciated Girardi's particular need for detailed perfectionism.

"No mistakes. No one separated from the main body." Girardi tapped the schematics that had been pulled up on Steve's laptop as he made his points.

"Absolutely no risk of friendly fire. Seamless, well oiled. But as I've stressed before, Benji Sato belongs to the DEA. When he's brought in, he's ours."

Steve smiled as he shook Girardi's hand and agreed to each stipulation. "Agreed. When we meet on Monday, the head of HPD SWAT's force will also attend. And I'm relieved that we're on the same page. But as long as we seem to be, I need to ask about Joe Cano."

Danny chuffed out a sound in disgust which caused Girardi to look directly at him in surprise and Steve inwardly moaned as he recognized that his partner's self-edit button was completely turned off.

"There's something wrong with that guy." Steve glared at Danny in a silent warning, but he ignored it as he stared back at his friend to make his point.

"First, we lost _**you**_ .. nearly permanently and you lost your memory. Again … nearly permanently."

Turning back to Girardi, Danny folded his arms and Steve knew that the added attack from this morning on the Camaro had only stoked his fire. "Are you aware he used DEA resources to trace my cell phone to Steve's house to confront me before the last mission? The man's relentless."

Throwing his own style of daggers at Steve's growing death stare, Danny challenged the men when he saw that Girardi hadn't been aware of that impromptu and unwelcome visit. "He'll tell you. Steve had to kick him out of his own house that day. Not to mention how he endangered not only Kono, but one of your own on _said_ last joint mission."

The sarcastic but very true words made Girardi frown, but he allowed Danny to continue and then instantly regretted it as the Detective's voice began to rise in the small office.

"He's a rude, insensitive bastard."

"Danny, that's enough." Steve's words were quiet but firm. Taking a step closer, he insisted that Danny shut his mouth and then addressed Girardi. But what came out sounded nearly as inappropriate as Danny's words and Steve mentally kicked himself as Girardi's expression darkened.

"What he's trying to say is that Cano is not welcome near any of us on this mission. He's a menace and a dangerous distraction."

Though annoyed by the change in topic, the DEA supervisor acknowledged Steve's demands but addressed his last comments to Danny.

"I'm very well aware of the situation. But frankly, you and Joe should have been brought up on charges of at least insubordination for that very public fight. You left my man severely injured .. he lost months of work and had to be placed on an extended leave of absence."

Girardi's words only served to enrage Danny as he sputtered about again Steve's abduction and Cano's unprofessionalism that put too many in danger. Chin and Kono stopped their work outside Steve's office as voices raised and tones escalated heatedly.

"And about _**that**_ …" Danny slapped his hand on the desk to make a point and Steve growled out yet another warning which was again blatantly ignored.

"I'll have you know that I visited Joe in the hospital to try and apologize … maybe it was too soon .. maybe I was wrong to try."

"You visited him?" Girardi and Steve spoke in unison and then glanced to each other at the odd coincidence.

"Why would you do that?" Steve added in surprise. Danny's answering tone clearly said that Steve was an absolute Neanderthal for needing to ask the question and Steve smirked automatically with a memory from their very first meeting on the Island.

"Because _**Steven**_, it was the right thing to do. I _**thought**_ I needed to apologize since I hadn't meant to do what I evidently did to the man."

Girardi raised his hand to stop the conversation as it continued to escalate. "Enough. We need to move on. I will tell you that Joe has had issues over the past twelve to eighteen months. These issues pre-date our work with Five-0 and started after our agent Ken Ito went undercover and then was subsequently murdered by Hito Matsui. Since that time .." He paused as he looked for the right words to share and sadly shook his head.

"Regardless, Joe's primarily on desk duty now .. indefinitely. He will not have an active role in this mission." Allowing himself a wry smile, Girardi added.

"He's actually been a nicer, gentler soul after returning from his leave."

Danny snorted in disbelief and Girardi had to smile. "No, it's true. Oddly enough, he's a nicer guy. I can't quite explain it …"

Unable to help himself, Danny snarked softly under his breath. "Yeah, that would be _**odd**_. Very inexplicable." And he earned himself another pointed glare from Steve to _knock if off_, but their next shared look spoke volumes regarding their joint skepticism.

As the three quieted, Steve eventually voiced sincere agreement with Bobby Girardi that they all needed to accept what was being said in order to move on.

"We'll bring our teams together on Monday." Steve confirmed as they escorted Girardi out of the building. "Eight in the morning .. promptly .. at your offices."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Danny's car had been processed by HPD, but was still in the shop getting a complete set of four new tires as the time neared to pick up Grace from Sacred Heart. At Steve's private request, the HPD mechanic was also doing a complete once over to ensure that brake lines or other critical vehicle components hadn't been compromised. He was also asked to examine each tire in an attempt to define what had been used to so diligently carve up the tires.

But no prints or evidence of any kind were picked up on the Camaro or from the yellow rose. And based on its commonality, it was useless to even try and trace the flower back to a point of origin or a particular florist.

Chin and Kono had exhausted their other tasks of looking for possible suspects and Steve had waved them off for the weekend.

Sighing disgustedly, Danny agreed. "We've got nothing. Let's call it a day."

Hanging up the phone in his office to check once more on the Camaro, Danny motioned to Steve indicating that he needed the keys to the truck. "It will be ready around four-thirty or five o'clock but I need to leave now to get Gracie on time."

Steve grinned and grabbed up his keys. "The day's nearly over so how about I come along. We can take Grace out for a treat rather than having her stuck here in the office. I can drop you two off to pick up your car?"

Decision made, the two made the short trip over to the school and Danny was out of the truck as soon as he saw Grace on the school stairs.

"Hey Monkey!" He said with a huge smile as he met her half way.

"Where's your car, Danno?" Grace asked after giving Danny a hug and a kiss.

"Uncle Steve and I are taking you out for ice cream and then we're going to get it from the mechanic. The car has a flat tire."

"_Or two or three…or four,"_ Danny unhappily thought to himself as he took Grace's backpack from her hands and walked her over to the truck. Flinging the backpack onto the front seat, Danny opened the half-door to help her up into the back seat. But Steve's shocked and nearly stuttered words stopped him cold as he went to buckle her in.

"Hey, Gracie. Where'd you get that yellow rose?"

Danny felt his heart nearly stop and the pit of his stomach clench in fear as he slowly looked at Steve's barely concealed worried expression and then towards the backpack. If Cano had been there, he could have seen for himself that the combined steps of his plan had worked exactly as he had hoped. Coming together seamlessly to create one dangerous whole, the shared looks and the palpable levels of concern would have pleased him greatly.

"What did you just say?" Immediately clenching his teeth, Danny frantically whispered to Steve as he too saw the yellow flower. It was bedraggled and missing petals, but it was unmistakably the same type of yellow rose left on Danny's own car earlier that morning.

"Grace, where _**did**_ you get that?" Danny chimed in quietly as he willed his hands to not shake in front of his daughter. "Did someone give you that? When did you get that?"

Oblivious to their combined anxiety, Grace nodded off-handedly and then shrugged. She'd forgotten about it and it still hung sloppily out of the front pocket of her backpack.

"Yeah, some guy yesterday. He gave it to me here on the steps after school let out. Before mommy got here."

Steve could practically see the tension rolling off Danny and the fight for control as he tried twice to buckle Grace into the truck. Already beginning to sweat, Danny's numb fingers slipped off the silver buckle before they both heard the final click.

"Easy, Danny." Steve whispered softly as he watched his friend silently begin to implode from a new found fear. He then spoke a bit louder to gain some control of the situation and for Grace's benefit.

"Danny. Let's get the ice cream and maybe Grace can remember what this guy looked like. Can you do that for us, Gracie? Try to remember everything you can about him and tell us when we get there."

Danny was frighteningly quiet as he scanned Grace's innocent face. But she was smiling about Uncle Steve's challenge and happy to be going out for a treat before dinner.

"Yeah, let's." Danny muttered as he finally closed the rear door and got into the front passenger seat.

Both men were silent and stewing by the time they'd gotten Grace her ice cream. For certain, the Camaro's vandalism hadn't been random and the yellow roses held an ominous threat. With gentle coaching, they eventually got a general description of an older man that looked sort of like a grandpa. He had a dark cap and a bad limp. He seemed super nice and just gave her the flower and walked away.

"Nothing else, sweetie?" Danny tried again as he tiredly rubbed a hand over his face. Steve was sitting across from them at the picnic table and had already found a plastic bag for the now dilapidated flower. "That was it?"

"Uh-huh. Just the flower and he left." And then just remembering something important, Grace added as he took a spoon of ice cream.

"Oh. No. And he knew my name. He said my name."

Feeling physically ill at that point, Danny abruptly got up from the picnic table and looked down anxiously at Steve who had become just as pale at the final remark. Danny was visibly shaking and sweating as he took deep breaths to try and settle himself. Without a doubt now, he needed to walk away to compose himself before he entirely lost it in front of his daughter.

"Stay with her a second, okay? Just .. I need .. I need to .._ I need a minute_ …"

But Grace didn't miss a beat as she watched her father walk a few feet away and then begin pacing in the shade. "Uncle Steve, why is the yellow flower so bad? Was the man bad?"

Surprised at the astute questions, Steve huffed out a noise and then sighed. "It's not the flower so much. Your father doesn't like that someone you don't know gave it to you. I know it's a pretty flower. But he just doesn't like it Gracie. He also doesn't like that this man knows your name."

Taking up her hand, Steve smiled at her now worried face as she realized taking the flower hadn't been such a good idea. And she'd been told countless times about strangers. "He's not mad at you at all either. So no sad faces, okay?"

The small nod didn't say that Grace was convinced though. Unhappily, she took another bite of her ice cream but wasn't all that hungry for it anymore.

Danny's head was about to explode and he didn't know how he'd be able to make it through the next few minutes let alone an entire weekend. The Camaro had felt like a personal attack … but this now with Grace. It was bigger .. so much _**bigger**_ than he could have imagined and he'd gone from zero to sixty in five seconds flat. He then made a painful decision as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Rachel.

Somewhat curt in order to avoid a shaky voice, Danny spoke quickly. "Rachel... something's come up and I can't shake it. I'm not happy about this ... but I need to drop Grace back off with you for the weekend. And then you and I have to talk …it's important."

Turning back towards the picnic table, Danny stopped to watch Grace's profile and then automatically scanned the neighboring area. The noise from passing cars and people in conversation suddenly overwhelmed him and Danny wanted to go someplace more private. Someplace that would be safer.

Steve was watching him closely, but he had moved around from his side of the table to sit next to Grace. One hand had a firm grip on Grace's small wrist and the protective gestures did much to ease some of Danny's mind. But still sickened by his thoughts and what he felt he had to do, Danny slowly retraced his steps and asked Steve for another favor as his daughter's face crumpled and she dropped her spoon.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: Continued S__pecial thanks for CinderH for the beta and helping to keep my head on straight with the saber toothed bunny's plot line! This is where we begin to really go off the deep end._

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Five - The Deep End**

Danny's weekend was lining up to be simply horrific, which meant that Steve's weekend would soon echo the same sentiment. While Danny was in the Edward's rambling gated Mc-Mansion and speaking to Rachel, the mechanic called Steve to let him know that the Camaro was finally ready and that a very sharp knife had been used to damage the tires.

"_A very sharply pointed and a more narrow, razor-edged type of blade .. like a switchblade for example. Not serrated .. not rounded. It was definitely a specialized knife. Unfortunately, nothing's been left behind in the tires so it's impossible to say for sure. Oh, and I found nothing else wrong with the vehicle … it's ready whenever you are."_

Thanking the man, Steve ended the call while he waited in his truck for Danny. Staring blindly at the large front door and willing it to open, Steve marveled at Danny's self control through that very moment in time. He had regained his control and his compsure. And then with utmost patience, Danny had smoothed back Grace's tears and had explained that she'd done nothing wrong at all. Almost repeating Steve's exact words to her, Danny had honestly explained that a stranger at her school wasn't a good thing and one that knew her name was even worse. The stranger may have looked like a kindly grandfather, but he was out of place and had no business there.

"Monkey, I'm not mad at you. I need to find out who the man is that gave you the flower. He shouldn't have done that." But she had remained tearful and sullen when he insisted that she stay with her mother for the weekend. Unable to explain more to her, Danny could only sweep her up into his arms before buckling her back into the truck. Her safety was paramount and tears would be eventually forgiven and forgotten.

Steve had hung back by the picnic table to give them more private time, and before he now closed the truck door, Danny kissed the top of Grace's head and quietly whispered his favorite words. "You didn't do anything wrong. Danno loves you, Grace. Always. And I promise that I'll make this up to you."

But even with the herculean effort of self control, Steve had taken side-long glances as he drove them all to the Edwards' McMansion. With his back now to Grace, Steve could easily see that Danny was jittery and on guard. Tense and distracted, he was unconsciously searching other cars and pedestrians for any threats. Multi-tasking, Steve pulled out his cell phone while he drove and punched the number in for Duke Lukela.

Danny glanced once in his direction as he heard Steve ask Duke for patrol units to be assigned to the Edward's residence until further notice. Their determined eyes met briefly over the short distance and Danny's jaw was clenched and firm. Steve nodded once as he again focused on driving.

Weekend parenting plans now postponed and promising that he'd make up for the special lost time, Danny carried his unhappy daughter and her backpack into the house. With darkly worried eyes, Steve had quietly watched them go and knew that he'd soon have his hands completely full with the truly enraged man upon his return.

Not wanting to frighten Rachel but obligated to discuss the situation, Danny quietly explained some of his worries about the yellow roses, the odd stranger, and what had happened to the Camaro. With HPD already providing a unit to patrol and watch the Edward's residence, Danny was at a loss to provide more information.

"I don't know Rachel." Danny was at his wits-end as he threw his hands up in the air and described the perceived threat to Grace and the yellow roses that now linked them to the vandalism done to his car. "We're going to be on the safe side. And I have everyone all over this but we've got no leads and I can't come up with a single suspect. So until we know more, expect to see HPD in the area. Keep your eyes open and the doors locked."

After slamming the front door behind him and making sure Rachel had locked it, Steve started the truck's engine as Danny jogged back. Once again, the tension rolled off him in deep waves as he sank into the passenger seat of the pickup truck and closed his eyes. Knowing better than to ask, Steve frowned at the pale face and drove directly to the HPD garages. In separate vehicles, they reconvened at Five-0 headquarters to once again scour endless current and past files for new clues.

But by eleven o'clock that night and with neither having had much of a break the entire day, Steve insisted that they stop and regroup the next morning. Danny's chin was propped on his fist. His moody eyes were already blood-shot and strained as he stared at countless photos and ran through endless pages of documentation on his computer.

Steve flicked the lights off in the offices as he approached Danny's desk to do the same. "Enough. We'll try tomorrow."

As expected, Danny didn't even look up as he refused to stop working and practically mumbled his reply through his tightly closed fist. He was completely distracted as his eyes aimlessly roamed the computer screen not even realizing that he wasn't actually registering anything in his overtaxed brain.

"You go. I have a few more files to check out." But what was wholly unexpected was Steve's reaction. Reaching down, he snagged Danny firmly by the arm and roughly hauled him to his feet.

"This is not up for discussion. I didn't ask what you wanted to do." Knowing that Danny would simply work until he fell flat on his face, Steve refused to release the resisting arm and ignored the furious resentful look when Danny tried to shake free. He placed his second hand more soothingly on Danny's shoulder and lowered his voice to a more reasonable tone. "I'm starving which means you are too. We've both had enough for one day."

The angry retort never made it to Danny's lips as he sighed in resignation and tried to rub away the pounding headache that had taken up residence in the middle of his forehead. Distraught and over-tired, Danny was almost relieved at not having to make a decision and he slowly turned to reach over a pile of files for his own car keys.

"Fine. Okay." The stilted words and lack of argument caused Steve to do a quizzical double-take at Danny's drawn face. And then he noticed the multitude of coffee cups that littered the paper-strewn desk.

"Have you had anything to eat today? Breakfast .. lets start there .. Lunch?" The answering blank stare clearly said _**no**_ and Steve sighed as he plucked the Camaro's keys from a much too unsteady hand. Annoyed about what had truly become a terrible day, Steve ushered him physically out of the offices. "I'm driving .. and I don't care which vehicle. But we're both taking a break until at least tomorrow."

Deciding on the newly repaired Camaro was easy enough and Steve left his truck parked in the nearly deserted parking lot. A little more than hour later, the two were camped out on Steve's lanai finishing a late night dinner.

"Grilled marinated steak? What plans did I ruin?" Danny meant it to be funny, but his voice was rough with exhaustion and it fell flat. The meal was equally delicious and he knew that he should be enjoying it more than he was, but his headache continued to pound and he only wanted a soft bed and a fluffy pillow.

"None, Danno. Blame it on the Navy .. Cath's leave was cancelled for this weekend and I already had the marinade going .. so your gain." Squinting his eyes in Steve's direction, Danny saw that Steve meant it and managed a small grin. Balancing his empty plate on his lap, Danny closed his eyes and then jolted forward as a light doze fell too quickly upon him. Struggling to his feet, he intended to clean up and then go home to his own apartment.

Steve raised his eyebrows but remained seated as Danny reached the doors off the lanai to go back into the house. "Danny. Where are you going?"

"Home. Get some sleep I guess."

Danny should have anticipated the response to his announcement as he wearily turned and then stared over to his unmoving partner. What he got was silence and then he realized Steve still had his keys. Sticking his hand out he walked back and asked for his car keys but he merely got a chuckle in reply.

Steve folded his arms obstinately, made a face as he shook his head and leaned back deeper into his own chair. "No. You're wiped and staying here."

Tired and annoyed, Danny's anger began to resurface but then he realized that he didn't actually need the keys. With a smirk, he turned on his heel. "Fine, I'll hotwire it."

The sarcastic threat finally brought Steve to his feet and he grinned as he propelled Danny into the house and then the spare bedroom. "You're being ridiculous."

Pointing to the bed, he pulled the covers back and pushed a pillow into Danny's arms. "Bed. Sleep." The final friendly shove sent Danny awkwardly backwards and he wound up sitting in a disheveled heap.

But with his shoulders hunched, his eyes were glassy when he finally looked up at Steve. "Suppose we don't figure this out … we have nothing. Today was a total bust. He knew Grace .. he knows her name, her face … where she goes to school …its personal."

Steve couldn't deny the same worries but he was sure of one thing .. both Danny and Grace would remain safe at all costs. The strength of his promise was laced throughout Steve's voice.

"Danny, we'll get to the bottom of this and we'll find this joker. Duke has HPD covering while we handle the DEA job, but we've done all we can for tonight. We'll work on this in the morning."

However, Saturday yielded the same dismal results and by late Sunday afternoon they still had nothing. Steve was disgusted and Danny was completely shattered and beyond exhausted. Tempers rising from frustration, they had argued while Steve forcibly removed Danny from their offices before he could collapse in the middle of the bull pen.

"I'm not discussing this Daniel." Steve growled angrily as he physically pushed Danny into his own truck this time and then paused as a new thought crossed his mind.

"Unless of course you want off this assignment with the DEA?" It was initially meant as a threat to get him to rest, but Steve stopped to chew on the concept since his partner was for very good reason under a great deal of stress and already running on empty. Re-thinking his words, Steve considered the truth of it.

"Actually Danny, you know that might be best."

Danny's reply was to slam the truck door in Steve's face. By the time he rounded the vehicle to get into the driver's seat, Danny's scathing words stung him. "Is that your idea of protection .. to _**bench**_ me? Do I look compromised to you? Do I look incapable of doing my job, Steven?"

"No, no it's not really any of those things." Understanding that he inadvertently pushed Danny's buttons, Steve held up his hand to forestall any other argument. "Danno, it was just a thought. An idea. If you need the time .. the space .. I want you to take it. We have options and I'll always have your back." Steve sighed ruefully. "No. I wasn't exactly saying I wanted you off the project. I was trying to say that if you needed to be, then I would understand. That it wouldn't be a problem."

Mollified, Danny's temper faded away and he nodded as he accepted Steve's explanation. "Okay. I'll let you know. For now .. I'm in."

But later over dinner, Danny had barely picked over his food as his worry increased. "Don't you think it's strange." He said quietly while they sat together at a small table in a tiny café removed from the bustling tourist activity. "Isn't it _strange_ that nothing's happened? All of this with Grace, the damned flowers and the car .. and now, nothing all weekend?"

Agreeing with the observation, Steve had been similarly disturbed. _When_ or _what_ could be next …_where_ might it happen? And now, two full days without an incident seemed too quiet .. much too disturbingly quiet.

With the larger team meeting tomorrow scheduled for early in the morning with the DEA, there was nothing more to be done and both men decided to refocus on the task ahead of them. HPD under Duke Lukela's leadership would concentrate on trying to move Danny's case forward as well as provide the necessary protection for the Edward's on a rotational basis. They only had to get through Wednesday; just three days and then they too could transfer their energies back to catching the individual or individuals responsible for the attack against Danny.

"Yeah." Steve said as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair and tried to push away the unsettling feeling of quiet before a pending storm. Waiting was always the hardest part and he didn't like surprises. "Definitely very strange."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

It was Monday morning and the primary members of the joint DEA, HPD SWAT and Five-0 teams were meeting at that very minute. Cano had seen each one of them enter the building and then move to the large conference room. His eyes narrowed in pleasure and a small smile quirked at his lips as he measured Danny Williams up and down. Happily, he clearly saw the slightly slumped shoulders and darkly smudged eyes. He already looked rumpled and more worn. Less confident, more subdued. As hoped, the man looked like he'd had a miserable last few days of dark worry. Cano privately congratulated himself at his first victory.

And now they were in an all day lock up meeting of sorts to hash out and then rehash the detailed plans for the Wednesday mission. The plans would be shared only on a 'need to know' basis … and Cano had absolutely no need to know a single thing. True to Girardi's good word, Cano was not invited nor involved in any way, shape or form with the tactics of the primary team. At most, he'd help process the final arrests at the end of the day.

With too much time on his hands, the man schooled his features into a friendly serene expression as he supposedly left the office for lunch, but was in fact livid at being so easily discarded. Discussions and plans well in progress, Cano knew that Danny and the rest of the primary team members would be occupied for quite some time. In fact, the large majority of the day and so, Cano simply wouldn't be missed. And that fact both pleased and maddened him.

His newest idea came to him over the weekend and by Sunday night, he had fine-tuned his own plans for a most aggressive strike against Danny which would come to fruition no later than Monday afternoon. Truly meaning business this time, the plan was terrifying and the danger almost thrilled Cano as he patted the small brown envelope tucked neatly in his inner shirt pocket.

"My own raid of sorts." He muttered to himself as he dug out his car keys and left his desk. Trotting down the staircase and out to his car, Cano knew that he would end his personal crusade by the day of the raid. At first wanting to play and toy with Danny's over-the-top swagger, destroy his confidence and take down his laureled career, Cano realized that this joint mission provided a far better opportunity. He didn't want his badge anymore, it wasn't enough when he could quite literally finish and be done with the man.

"Why prolong the inevitable?" He whispered out loud as he left the building. With the majority of staff preoccupied, Cano had lifted a small amount of the white powder from the DEA's own lockers only because he _could_ – it was that simple and the tiny missing amount would never be noticed. And now that he'd truly been ousted from his team, Cano was outraged and figured _why not this_ as he casually drove by William's apartment for a second time in less than three days and made sure that the complex was deserted. A third yellow rose was tucked gently and concealed within the inside pocket of his windbreaker.

Once again adding dark aviator sunglasses and a baseball cap, he parked closer to the complex this time and ambled back along the sidewalk. He hesitated briefly in the shade of a tree as a lone HPD patrol unit slowly moved up the street ahead of him. When he could no longer see it, Cano continued quickly to the apartment complex. Scouring the hallway, he pulled on a pair of gloves and easily jimmied the lock to silently enter the small one-bedroom suite.

Without faltering, Cano strode determinedly to the refrigerator and opened the door. Snorting in surprise and then in derision at the limited amount of food and drink, he grabbed the milk and quickly emptied the contents of the tiny brown envelope completely into the container. He was particular in the amount he used as well - it was enough PCP to have an effect but certainly not enough to kill his target. No, not yet .. that he wanted to do personally, face to face.

Tapping the bag, he couldn't help muttering. "Just a little dusting. Nothing over the top. But what a nice pick-me-up for your morning coffee, Detective."

Snickering to himself, the third yellow rose was laid neatly across the pillows in the small bedroom. The entire process took less than two minutes time and he was out of door quickly leaving absolutely no trace of his presence. As he drove away from the curb, Cano smiled to himself and was well on his way to the office under the pretense of finishing a normal workday.

"Have a nice _trip_ Detective. Sweet dreams."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: MY HORRIFICALLY BAD DAY AT WORK TODAY MEANS THAT THIS CHAPTER GETS DONE AND POSTED WAY EARLIER THAN ANTICIPATED. The muses come out more when work STINKS. And today is a doozy so I hid in my writing. Please enjoy and thanks for the wonderful reviews and updates!_

_The usual about lack of medical, drug, etc knowledge. FF folks .. enjoy! A continued request to NOT try any of this at home etc, etc etc. Blah, blah and more blah._

_Some of this idea came from an old Simon and Simon episode where AJ was similarly drugged at a restaurant. _

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Six – The Deep End**

By late Monday evening, the individual teams had dispersed and Danny insisted upon returning to his own apartment for the night.

"I'll have Duke assign me a personal escort if it makes you feel better." Danny snarkily retorted to Steve as they made it back to their own HQ parking lot and he dropped Steve off at his truck. He had just refused plans for a light dinner knowing full well where it would lead yet again. Worn out and stressed, he had managed to actively participate and contribute greatly during the detailed joint meeting. But Danny had also called both Duke and Rachel through out the day and was simultaneously worried and relieved at the lack of any progress or news. Now, he just wanted to go home to his own space in order to decompress.

Steve's face ranged between understanding and that of a sincerely torn and very worried friend. Grinning tiredly at the unrestrained constipated expression, Danny softened and waved him off as he got in the Camaro.

"Listen. I'll be fine. But I'd like to stay at my own place tonight. Enough is enough. And actually, _clothes_ … I do need a change of clothes …clean ones in fact, would be quite nice." That last part couldn't be denied and Steve snorted noisily as he stood with his hands fisted on his hips while Danny roared the Camaro's engine to life.

In fact, if anyone fit in with their DEA counterparts when it came to proper business attire, it was Danny. Steve hadn't seen this many suits and ties in a Honolulu office in years and other than looking more scruffy than usual, Danny simply blended. But deeply worried about him being alone, Steve glumly watched as Danny drove off before reluctantly going to his own house to freshen up.

As he made the drive home, Steve's next calls to HPD confirmed no new breaks and also that a cruiser would be patrolling the area and he sighed grudgingly. But within the hour, Steve was unable to sit still and felt he would simply beg forgiveness for his uninvited visit as he picked up a six-pack, a large pizza and made his way over to the small apartment complex.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Tossing his keys to the small counter, Danny immediately turned on the TV for the noise factor. He'd picked up Chinese take-out for dinner but then opened the refrigerator only to frown disgustedly since he'd forgotten to buy soda or more preferably, beer. Taking a cautionary sniff, Danny wound up having to settle for the milk. Foregoing a glass, he took a deep swig directly out of the container, grabbed a fork and moved his dinner to the small coffee table. Eating out of the small food cartons while he watched a mindless sitcom, every so often Danny would pause and drink again from the milk container.

About an hour later, Steve sat in his pickup truck in the apartment complex parking lot directly next to the Camaro. Six-pack in hand, hot pizza on the front seat of the truck, their Monday at work had been as intense as the weekend's events. And now Steve couldn't shake his feeling of unease which only grew as he impatiently redialed Danny's cell phone and it again went to voicemail.

Duke's team reported zero leads to be found for this new stalker and they still didn't know what they were up against. The infuriating status made the joint mission with the DEA simply a thorn in everyone's side. And even with HPD's finest involved, the not so subtle messages left for Danny had everyone at Five-0 on edge and completely distracted. Uncomfortable with the status and with Danny being alone, Steve tossed a wave to the HPD cruiser as it again slowly passed the complex. But getting only voicemail, Steve frowned as he pocketed his phone and got out of the truck with the food.

"You'd better be in the shower, buddy. And you can yell at me all you want." Steve crossly said as he balanced the food and still managed to take the steps two at a time. Knocking loudly on the door, he made a dark face at the lack of reply and then grimaced when he found the door unlocked.

"Hey, Danno! Where are you?" Steve called out as he entered the short hallway and closed the door behind him with his foot. The TV was on and Steve took the few steps in to peer into the small living room. The sight that greeted him shocked him to his very core and he dropped the entire six pack of Longboard bottles where two instantly burst open into a foamy mess. The box of pizza shortly followed, but its contents miraculously stayed contained.

"Danny .. _what_ …?"

Danny was literally standing on the sofa staring with a horrified expression at his left hand while he held his service revolver in his right. Shaking, covered in sweat, Danny was mumbling incoherently and looking for all intensive purposes like he was going to shoot himself. But the crashing sound of the bottles caught his attention. In his highly agitated and fearful state, Danny swung around erratically and tried to aim his weapon in the direction of the noise.

Eyes wide, Steve reactively put his hands out and ducked down as the weapon came his way. "Whoa! Danny! Wait!"

Off balance, Danny lost his balance on the soft cushions. He wind-milled awkwardly and then fell heavily onto the coffee table. Cracking his right elbow and hitting his head on the corner, he also wound up knocking over the remaining carton of milk and all of the Chinese food containers. Steve took the opportunity to bolt forward as Danny fell and managed to get the gun secured into the back of his own pants and away from the weakened grip. On his knees, Steve's heart was in his throat as he tried to roll Danny over to check the now bleeding head wound and figure out what was going on. But flailing wildly, Danny managed to sloppily punch Steve in the shoulder and he instead found himself grappling with his incoherent friend.

"What .. easy .. Danny! Easy!" His sporadically choked out words were ignored as Danny moaned and struggled violently against his hands. In an all out effort to control him, Steve was sharply elbowed in the cheek and then soundly punched in the stomach. Physically lying prone across his body, Steve tried to use his larger size against Danny in a violent wrestling match. But it was almost in vain as a strong lurch unseated Steve and he entirely lost his grip.

Evading another wild swing as Danny staggered to his feet, Steve cursed at the amount of blood now running down the panicked face. Not a word was spoken as he tried to tackle Danny to the sofa and once more gain an upper hand without hurting him … without throwing his own strong, very targeted hits that would have efficiently incapacitated him. Not wanting to go _**there**_, at most Steve got Danny to his knees again as he tried for a stronger hold that could pin him back down safely to the floor.

"Easy, relax. What's happened?" Frantic, Steve was nearly winded with the unexpected battle of wills as realized he was dealing with some sort of drug but was clueless as to what or how it had been administered.

Danny was soaked in sweat and his muscles were quaking uncontrollably under his straining hands. Confused and irrational, Danny was uncoordinated but fighting him hard with all of his strength. Running out of options as Danny nearly made it to his feet for a second time, the two scuffled and then crashed headlong into the TV stand. The screen cracked and the unit rocked dangerously. Steve cursed as he yanked his cuffs out and now was forced to violently wrestle Danny's arms behind his back. Lying once more across Danny's body, Steve fumbled for the cuffs as he snagged first one and then the other wrist.

"I'm sorry .. _Danno_. God, I'm so sorry." Steve was choking back tears as he fought his friend and finally forced the cuffs securely on and heard the sharp clicks. But now even cuffed, Steve still had a serious struggle going on under him as he tried to punch in 911 emergency on his cell phone and manage the still fiercely uncontrollable man.

"Danny. Stop. It's me." Steve was almost shouting at him in frustration but getting no where as he finally connected with the operator for help. But Danny heaved under him and Steve nearly dropped the cell phone in his haste to keep the upper hand. "Danno, you have to stop!"

In the eight minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive, Steve eventually succeeded in getting Danny firmly enveloped in his arms as they sat huddled together on the floor. The HPD officer had also been alerted and was waiting outside to usher in the EMS team. With his back now anchored against Steve's chest, Danny was still shaking but finally weakening in his futile attempts to get away. His head sagged forward as blood from the wound still ran freely down his cheek, matting his hair and soaking Steve's shirt sleeve.

"Can you hear me? Are you with me?" Steve repeated endlessly and was beside himself with the continued lack of response and persistent incoherent state. "Danny, can you hear me at all?" Resting his sweaty forehead on the back of Danny's head as they both wheezed through differing levels of pain and confusion, Steve struggled with his emotions and to keep himself under control. Admittedly afraid, Steve mumbled quietly as he felt the shudders and rapidly thudding heartbeat through his arms.

"Danno. Danno, who's doing this to you? What in the _hell_ kind of game are they playing?"

But Steve didn't dare lessen his hold until the medics could determine his condition and get him stabilized. Steve just had the time of his life wrestling Danny down and didn't doubt he needed more help .. more hands .. to professionally check Danny's head wound and general condition. Mortified at his use of handcuffs, Steve would have a hard time forgiving himself even though he knew he'd had no other option.

So now he held Danny pinned firmly in his arms as he waited the agonizingly long minutes for EMS to arrive and sighed with relief when he finally heard the first sirens in the distance. Voices in the hall told him that the HPD officer was hurriedly getting the medics to the apartment and within moments they had quickly entered, leaving a gurney in the hallway.

"What have we got?" The first medic said as he assessed Danny's head wound and unwrapped sterile bandages in order to stop the bleeding and clean his face. He then took in the scattered food, broken bottles, the hand-cuffed battle weary patient and Steve's distraught expression. The room was a complete mess and it was obvious that there had been a major physical altercation.

"We're Five-0. He's been poisoned or given a drug of some kind." Still panting from the exertion, Steve's voice was strained as he continued to hold Danny for the EMS technicians to run an IV line for fluids and take basic vitals. The HPD officer stood off to the side, stunned at the sight before him and completely ignored now as the medics assessed Danny's condition. Steve was unable to hide his anxiety as Danny's harsh sporadic breathing loudly filled the room. The hoarse sound soon was muffled as a medic placed an oxygen mask over the now lax face.

"I have no idea what it is .. I found him combative and completely irrational about fifteen or twenty minutes ago."

Glancing around the apartment, the first medic nodded towards the milk carton and food. "His heart rate is erratic. Blood pressure is sky-rocketing and his breathing is labored. Based on this and the aggressive nature of his actions, I'd say it could be any number of psychotics. Tainted food – maybe the milk?"

The second agreed as he gathered up their gear, neatly avoided the broken glass and readied the gurney in the hallway. "We need to keep him restrained and get him on the gurney. Transport ASAP, now. He could crash if this is an overdose. Bring that food and we'll get toxicology run on that plus a complete panel on his blood for toxins."

Eyes closed, Danny had finally eased in his struggles and lay weakly in Steve's tight grasp. Steve tried to see his face, as he shifted to his knees and held him upright by his shoulders in a sitting position.

"Danno, we're going to move you now." He was sure that Danny couldn't hear or understand him, but Steve kept up an incessant chatter as the EMS technicians positioned the gurney and any additional restraints. "Come on, D. Let's go .. time to go."

Glancing up to see if they were ready, Steve remained on his knees. "Cuffs?" Steve whispered, even though he knew the answer. "He's quiet now. Do we still need them?"

"Yes. Fasten them in the front though for transport … just for everyone's safety. Including his own." Wincing at the confirmation, Steve carefully uncuffed and slowly moved Danny's arms forward to refasten them as instructed. Besides the head wound, his right elbow had swollen significantly and Steve pointed it out to the medics before he was moved. Nodding, they did their best to stabilize the injured arm across his chest. By now, Danny was completely unresisting and wrung out as the drug continued its move through his system. The men quickly acted in unison to lift Danny up onto the stretcher where additional straps were tightened firmly across his body.

Dull eyes partially opened and unfocused, Danny now lay unresponsive as the men rapidly wheeled him out of the apartment. Desperate to keep up and be in the ambulance, Steve quickly threw on a pair of gloves and then found plastic bags for the milk container and Chinese foods.

Unsure of what to do, the officer lingered as Steve slammed the door. Glaring at the man, Steve angrily pushed a warning finger into his chest.

"Not one word. Not a _**one**_ about what's happened here …about his condition or what you may have seen or I'll have your badge. Stay here but don't enter this room until my team arrives." Nervously, the officer swore silence as Steve ran off to get to the ambulance.

And as he left in a dead run, Steve never realized that a third yellow rose lay ominously across the pillows of Danny's bed.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: So glad you liked the last chapter – the breakfast muse and then the saber-toothed plot bunny have jointly taken over – this happens with icky work days. Thank you ALL AGAIN for the support and great reviews._

_The usual about lack of medical, drug, etc knowledge. FF folks .. enjoy! A continued request to NOT try any of this at home etc, etc etc. Blah, blah and more blah._

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Seven – The Deep End**

With nothing to do on the short but chaotic ride through the busy streets, Steve kept himself occupied by holding another wad of clean bandages against Danny's sluggishly bleeding head wound. It wasn't necessary and the medics only looked at him for a moment as their persistent chatter and data exchange continued between the racing ambulance and the Tripler trauma room staff. Almost afraid to ask as he lurched along to the rough motion of the vehicle, Steve grunted as his shoulder painfully connected with the side of the wall. "How's he doing?"

There was a slight pause as the first medic continually focused on and rechecked Danny's erratic vital signs. "I'd like to see some of these readings come down. But at least they aren't rising …we're pushing fluids to hopefully flush his system but without knowing what the toxin is .. we can't do more yet."

Palpating the bones in Danny's right arm from shoulder down to wrist, and then carefully around the swollen elbow joint, the medic frowned at the thick swelling below his fingers. "There could be a bone broken here near his elbow. He'll be x-rayed when he's stabilized. And I wouldn't doubt a concussion with that blow to his head."

Steve rubbed his burning eyes with his free hand at the news and asked again, but was denied. "I'd like to remove the cuffs now. He doesn't need them. He's been quiet."

The first medic who was still assessing Danny's arm shook his head adamantly as he did his best to bravely confront the distressed SEAL. "I'm sorry. It's just not a good idea. He could escalate without warning." Steve's jaw worked angrily but when he failed to stare down the determined medic, he relented.

"You'll need to have your cheek looked at too. Looks like he got you pretty good there." The medic paused in his care of Danny to lightly sketch his fingers across Steve's face. The spot where Danny had elbowed him was already swollen and showing signs of severe bruising. Steve hissed in surprise and pulled back as the medic gently touched a particularly painful spot on the cheekbone. "Could be fractured .."

"Later." Steve snarled at the man. Pointing to Danny, he'd had enough of being denied and wouldn't stand for being poked and prodded. "Him. You just focus on him right now. Nothing else. No one else."

At that the medic did hesitate with his hand momentarily frozen in the air until it flew back away from Steve's face. Understanding that a line had just been crossed, he busied himself with monitoring Danny's vitals. But even with his head down, he paled when he didn't feel the SEAL's cold glare leave him for a good many minutes.

Everyone was at the ready as soon as the ambulance came to a complete stop in front of the emergency room at Tripler Medical. They were met by a small contingent from the trauma area and as the doors slammed open, Steve came face to face with Doctor Ramirez and two nurses as he stumbled out and then nearly hugged the man in complete relief.

"Thank god it's you." Steve blurted out in a harsh whisper. "Danny ..."

"Commander? Steve?" Ramirez grabbed his arm to steady him as he then helped guide the gurney off the back of the ambulance to reveal that Danny was in fact, his serious patient.

"Cuffs? Restraints? When they said they were bringing in a possible overdose .. I had no idea …come along."

Not waiting for a response but ensuring Steve trotted along behind, the doctor whipped his stethoscope out and hurriedly moved the gurney with his team to a trauma room as he made demands for blood to be drawn and immediately analyzed. A perceptive nurse saw the plastic bags clutched in Steve's hands and had them additionally sent along to the lab.

Steve was sick to his stomach when the results came back on the blood toxicology panels and then confirmed that the container of milk had been contaminated with PCP or angel dust. No other food stuffs had been tainted. Standing in the back of the room he made an urgent call to Chin Ho and filled him in completely on what had happened and demanded that the apartment be scoured from top to bottom.

"_Chin there's an HPD officer in the hall waiting for you. But handle this personally. You and Kono .. I don't want anyone accidentally missing a particle of dust that's a fraction out of place. No leaks. Nothing leaves our circle. Contact Duke for me … double the manpower at the Edwards."_

As he ended the call, Steve took up a dominant stance at the foot of the bed. Hands on hips, he simply changed. Flipped the switch entirely that had started to turn in the ambulance. Ramirez felt it and glanced briefly in his direction before focusing once again on his patient. Whoever had done this had just signed their own death sentence and a chill went down the doctor's back.

Required to follow the same procedural precautions, Ramirez kept the restraints on Danny as his team handled triage and assessed his condition. Continually taking vitals and then stabilizing his blood pressure, the doctor wanted stitches in Danny's head wound, a CAT scan and x-rays of the injured arm. Steve stood unmoving as he heard orders given and watched the expert activity. He only moved when Ramirez motioned and pointed towards the cuffs as he began to unbuckle the canvas straps.

"Get those off him. The worst is over."

With relief, Steve quickly walked over and then gently uncuffed Danny's wrists and huffed noisily at previously hidden bloody bruises. He'd not made the cuffs too tight, but Danny's aggressive attempts to escape had still damaged the area. Ramirez frowned and sadly shook his head in dismay as he also saw the extensive bruising and nasty swelling.

Steve carefully turned the worst wrist over in his own fingers as he sneered in self-reproach. He was furious as he spit out the next words. "I've never seen anything like this. I had to cuff him .. I had to _**cuff**_ .."

But his voice trailed off and Ramirez motioned to a nurse to dress the newly discovered wounds. She quietly inserted herself near the doctor as she swabbed the bruised areas and gently cared for the small abrasions.

"I know how out of it he was to have put up such a fight." Ramirez said quietly. "I'm sorry, Steve. I know this doesn't mean much yet, but you did do what was necessary to keep him from hurting himself even more. And frankly, he would have."

The only answer to the understanding words was a disgusted grunt. "It's escalated." Steve bluntly said to Ramirez as Danny began to show signs of regaining consciousness and moaned. The interruption was unexpected and very welcome. Steve leaned down for a moment to study the closed eyes and furrowed brow. "Danny? Hey ..."

But another dire thought had Steve's stomach clench and if possible, a second switch flipped as his face significantly darkened and became more lethal. Ramirez attempted to place a settling hand on Steve's arm as he dared to ask. "What? Has something else happened?"

"The milk. The _milk_ was spiked." Steve's voice was ice cold and dangerously monotone as he looked down at Danny and realized what they'd all just been told from the lab. Grace had come very close to ingesting the drug with cereal or something as benign as milk and cookies. "Grace. She could have been there …she might have been there. He sent her back to her mother on Friday. To be safe."

Ramirez frowned and hadn't caught up to the change in topic. "I'm not following you. What are you talking about?"

Struggling against the rising tide of nausea, Steve explained Danny's visitation schedules with his daughter and how the issues on Friday made him renege on the weekend plans.

"We don't know how long the milk was contaminated. Grace could have been exposed to this .. another day, another time. It could have happened. Kids drink milk constantly. If she had been there …" And then it was Ramirez' turn to darken in an unconcealed anger as he listened in a stunned silence.

Muttering out loud, Steve explained more to the doctor but he was motionless and foreboding. His absolute stillness .. a direct antithesis to what would have been Danny's demonstrative agitation .. was in short, sinister. Danny's head tossed miserably on the bed and Steve frowned as he placed a soothing hand on Danny's forearm.

"Grace. The damned roses. His car. And now _this_ .." He only paused then and took a step back from the bed as his cell phone vibrated. Ramirez waited as he answered the call with a curt "_Kono. Report_."

Steve's lips thinned in anger while he listened to her initial findings. Without a word, he ended the call and looked at the doctor. "They found another rose. On his bed. But, no immediate other evidence."

Another moan drew their attention and Steve moved back to the gurney to place his hand once more on Danny's arm. This time, he finally was able to open dazed blue eyes and in total confusion, Danny mouthed Steve's name soundlessly.

"_Steve_." Head pounding and incredibly sore, Danny felt like he'd been hit by a Mack truck of enormous proportions and didn't know why. He licked dry lips and tried again but he just couldn't gather the energy so he settled for simply being taking slow breaths.

The last thing his fuzzy mind remembered was that he could see through the skin on his left hand .. completely _through_ it. As it spookily undulated with a crazed wave-like motion, it had taken on a life of its own. From his hand, it had then started to creep up his arm and then it moved into his shoulder. That had been unnerving, but when he could see _through_ it to the red pulsing veins, sinews, flesh and then individual bone, Danny had come unglued; wholly petrified. The sane part of him knew he had been drugged. But the irrational side had come forward .. unbidden and had taken full control to kick his sanity completely to the curb.

He understood now that he was hospitalized. He recognized Ramirez's voice as well as Steve's. He could hear Steve speaking and the frightening tone held his attention in a rapt awe. Even with his eyes closed and his body sluggish, Danny could feel it .. the precarious pending storm in his partner's voice and he knew something terrible had happened.

"_Drugged_?" His mind whispered and upset, he tossed his head on the pillow. The worry pulled strongly at him and Danny forced his reluctant eyes open, but exhausted his voice utterly failed him. "_Steve_."

"Steve?" Trying again, he finally succeeded and recognized the face for what it was as he blearily studied the multi-colored and badly bruised cheek. The hand on his arm was strong and soothing, but the _face _said so much more as it provided a completely different message.

Sternly, Danny managed only one other word. "_**No**_."

But the war had been declared and Steve had every intention of ending it.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	8. Chapter 8

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: special and much continued thanks to CinderH who feeds the plot bunny so well! This is gearing up to a fun and exciting next few chapters! And the never ending beta which admittedly got a little intense there … phew!_

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Eight – The Deep End**

Once all test results had been returned and Danny safely ensconced in a private room under both Kono and Chin's watchful eyes, Steve had only then given in to Ramirez's persistent demands to care for his bruised cheekbone. Elbowed during the fight to control Danny, Steve now returned to the softly lit hospital room holding an ice pack to the swollen area.

"He got you good, boss." Kono remarked quietly when he told them that Ramirez confirmed nothing fractured but a very bad bone bruise. It was nearing one o'clock in the morning, but the three had decided to take up residence at Tripler through the night.

When Steve had told Ramirez that the team would be staying, he'd merely shrugged and waved him off. "You've never asked me before, so why are you telling me now? Go. I'm sure you know the way .. just remember, there _**are**_ other patients here."

Danny was sleeping soundly and was oblivious to the soft conversation taking place around him in the room. His arm was gently encased in a soft cast. The bones in his elbow and forearm were badly bruised but not broken. And the CAT scan had turned out to be negative; but he'd needed seven stitches to close the deep wound on his temple. One wrist was also lightly bandaged from his struggle against the handcuffs where he'd torn skin away. The second wrist was deeply discolored and his fingers looked pudgy and swollen. All in all, things being as they were, he would be very sore but was extremely lucky.

Steve smirked as he removed the ice pack to show off the impressive bright colors. "You truly have no idea. None." But the apartment looked like a tornado had gone through it and in actuality, both Kono and Chin had been devastated by just seeing the aftermath. They could easily guess what had happened.

And now they both watched as Steve moved towards the bed to see for himself that Danny was still sleeping. But he unconsciously narrowed his eyes in anger once more when he took in the various bandages and Danny's occasionally twitching fingers. While he was sleeping soundly, the vestiges of the drug were still leaving his system. And as they dissipated, the occasional twitch or sporadic head toss served only to further darken Steve's already very black mood.

Happy to diffuse the tension in the room Chin, with his feet up on the edge of Danny's bed, pointed to his cousin proudly. "She has an update for you. One that you will very much appreciate. I'll stay and keep an eye on things here. But you two definitely need to talk." Intrigued by Chin's tone, Steve kept the ice pack on his cheek as he followed Kono out of the room to a small secluded waiting area on the same floor.

"You found something?" Steve asked quietly. Kono's eyes were sparkling in anticipation as she filled him in and he sank down into a chair as he considered the possibilities. She'd done something no one had considered and had gotten a hit from an unlikely source – found a solid lead.

There were only a small handful of florists in the area and each yellow rose had been fresh. Very fresh actually – very _**freshly** _purchased. Yes a yellow rose was an incredibly common flower .. and they had originally discounted tracking the bloom's origin. But taking it one major step farther, Kono had identified each of the four local florists and had then obtained the owner's personal telephone numbers. Apologizing profusely for the late hour of night and for needing to call their homes, she had spoken to each while Ramirez doctored Steve's cheek.

Tossing him her notebook, Steve read through their suspect's physical description as she explained what she'd done so well. "It wasn't that difficult. I asked each if anyone had come into their establishments consistently and over the last few days to purchase individual but identical yellow roses."

Leaning over his shoulder, she tapped Jan Wu's name. "Our guy bought the roses from her each time. The last purchase was yesterday .. Monday afternoon around lunch. The first was last Thursday when he bought two – one went to Grace and one was placed on the Camaro. She said that she wouldn't have necessarily remembered him except that yesterday, he was different. Gloating. _Off_. She felt uncomfortable around him."

"Have I told you that you're amazing?" Her news almost suspended all of his dangerous thoughts and Steve barely spoke the compliment aloud. They had something .. and he could he work with it. Passing her notebook back, he stood up and placed a hand on her shoulder. Relaxing ever so slightly, Steve smiled and shook his head in wonder.

"Because Kono, if I haven't told you that, I need to. You. Are. Amazing."

"And you may want to sit down again. It gets better." Kono grinned at his ever-changing expression and she was enjoying herself immensely.

"While it's true that the guy's partially hidden under a baseball cap and sunglasses, Jan's coming in to give HPD a formal statement first thing tomorrow and she's bringing a tape. Her husband is a bit of an eccentric – he breeds exotic flowers in a small climate controlled room behind the main shop – very expensive exotic flowers. Worries about theft."

She laughed at Steve's growing confusion as he wondered what that fact could possibly have anything to do with Danny and identifying their perpetrator.

"Steve, Jan's store has a state-of-the-art security system. _Cameras_. She has a week's worth of video for us to review. It's so much more than we had and it still may not be perfect … but we are going to get this guy."

Her satisfied reward was the incredulous and over-loud whoosh of air that Steve let out of his lungs. Simultaneously, the ice pack hit the ground. They had _**more**_ than something now … and he'd force the hand. This ... this, Steve would make work.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Tuesday dawned dark and overcast with rain forecast for the entire day. As head of Five-0, Steve was obligated to go back to the DEA offices for the second important full day of meetings. With Danny hospitalized, Chin would need to attend with Steve and Kono was already on her way to meet Jan Wu at HPD.

Anxious to speak to Jan Wu and personally view the retail store tapes, Steve was in a foul mood for new reasons. Governor Denning understood his task force's primary concerns to protect one of their own. In fact, he himself wanted his people's protection guaranteed, but the time-bound joint mission was equally critical. Neither task could be delayed nor ignored; and Steve was advised to do the best he could with the resources at hand.

"Damn it." He growled to himself quietly as he checked the time. It was nearing seven thirty in the morning and the team meeting began at eight. Danny had just woken and had insisted on being helped to the small bathroom. But he had hissed in pain as his feet hit the floor and he'd needed to sit on the edge of the bed to ride out the soreness. Steve ground his jaw angrily as he ran a hand over his face, the other anchored to support Danny's uninjured left elbow.

"What the hell happened? God …everything hurts." Other than being a little unsteady on his feet that had been his only complaint thus far. The obvious muscle soreness from the previous day's wrestling match. Of which, Steve hadn't had the time nor the inclination to bring Danny fully up- to-speed. He'd only blurted out the amazing news of Jan Wu's security system and tapes. Kono's find making Danny chuckle and gleam happily with a new interest.

But now, as Danny caught his balance on the edge of the bed, he'd look down in wonder at the amazing array of bruises on one wrist. The other neatly wrapped but with similar discoloration peeking out from under the white gauze. His expression and confused question had made Steve involuntarily flinch. Bewildered, Danny had rotated his left wrist gently and then marveled at the puffy fingers.

"Steve. What exactly did I do?" Steve's jaw had begun to clench in agitation before he could find the words to answer Danny. And belatedly when he did, Steve realized that he sounded like Danno when he was trying to soothe Gracie. Except his tone was decidedly more judgmental – more critical – definitely more reproachful.

"Nothing. You didn't do anything. It's what I did." Refusing to explain himself, Steve now glowered as he stood outside the bathroom waiting for Danny.

Chin had gone to ask the nurse to get approval for a pain relief medication or an anti-inflammatory. Returning from the nurse's station, he sighed in frustration when he rejoined Steve. The team was completely torn between their responsibilities and on edge.

"They'll bring him something. But Steve, we're going to have to leave now to be on time with the DEA."

"Go." Danny had heard the soft conversation. He stood slightly hunched, cradling his casted right arm against his side. Some bruising peeked out from under the small bandage on his temple, but his eyes were refreshingly clear and he gave Steve's concerned expression a meaningful look. "You and I .. we, my friend are talking later."

Danny smiled as he slowly turned back towards the bed. "But in case you've both forgotten, this is a _**military**_ hospital filled with all shapes and sizes of Steve McGarrett wannabe Ninja types. Come back later .. I'll be here."

Chin snorted and then laughed as he draped his arm loosely around Danny's shoulders. Even Steve managed to quirk a smile at the analogy as they helped Danny slide back under the light covers.

But before they left, he stared once again anxiously at Steve's all too brooding darkened eyes as they flitted across Danny's bruises and eventually settled back on his face.

"Remember what I said. _**No**_. Behave, Steven. Play nice in the sand-box."

At first there was no reply – no response at all and Danny frowned. But the mild off-handed shrug from the tense SEAL was worse as his hand unconsciously strayed to his weapon and Danny inwardly groaned. He could only watch unhappily from the bed as Steve quietly left the room and the nurse entered with his pain medication

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: Sparks are flying! thank you for the FANTASTIC reviews and to CinderH - best BETA EVER! I'm doing my best to thank everyone for such wonderful reviews but my sincerest apologies if I haven't yet .. and to all the Guests that I can't reply to - thank YOU!_

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Nine – The Deep End**

It was pouring heavily as Chin and Steve ran into the DEA offices for the second very focused tactical meeting with their peers that would finalize the next day's plans. It was eight a.m. and they were exactly on time.

"What happened to you? Where are Detective Williams and Officer Kalakaua?" Girardi asked Steve with genuine surprise and concern as the two rain soaked men entered the central office area. Steve's bruises couldn't be missed as he shook hands with the DEA Supervisor.

"Accident. Detective Williams is recovering and Chin Ho will be taking over in his stead. Officer Kalakaua will be here this afternoon due to a priority commitment." Steve was snappish - extremely abrupt - and didn't offer more. Girardi hesitated at the attitude and then frowned because time was so very limited. But he had no choice and accepted the terse words with a brief nod as they made their way to the large conference room.

Girardi was also on edge and in a hurry. Chin and Steve needed to walk briskly to keep up with him as they all strode down the hallway. There would be a great deal to discuss that morning with all of the primary team members. The most important of which was the impending need to move the raid up significantly.. possibly even within the next few hours based upon the latest dynamic intelligence. Girardi was anxious to begin and present the new challenges with the expressed goal of salvaging and maintaining the semblance of a cohesive mission. The opportunities to bring down a vital division of the Yakuza and persecute Benji Sato simply couldn't be missed.

As they rounded a corner to the meeting room, the three nearly bumped into Joe Cano and all four rocked on their heels. Coffee in hand, Cano was on his way back to his desk from the break room. His eyes skittered from Chin quickly to Steve taking notice of the cold expression and then the spectacular bruise across his left cheekbone. Detective Williams was most noticeably, not present.

"Gentlemen." With a curt nod, Cano smiled and side-stepped neatly to give them all room to pass. Girardi voiced a polite good morning, but the two Five-0 men resumed their walk until Steve turned once to glance over his shoulder and his breath caught in his throat.

Cano was frozen in place and staring directly at him with what Steve swore was a fiercely satisfied and very evil grin. But instantly, the malicious black eyes were gone and his face morphed back into a bland docile expression before he broke contact.

"Anything wrong?" Chin asked as Steve fell back slightly, but Cano was gone when he followed Steve's grim stare back down the hallway. "Steve?"

Unable to shake the odd threatening feeling, Steve's reply was almost inaudible as they finally reached the conference room. Eyes narrowed in consideration, he was still looking back towards where Cano had been standing. "Actually. I'm not sure. "

Cano's hands were shaking by the time he got to his desk and he was thankful his cup had a cover or it would have splashed coffee clear across his desk. But his hands weren't trembling in fear. It was obvious that his plan had worked beautifully and he was struggling to hide his overwhelming pleasure. There couldn't be another reason for Steve's severely black and blue cheek, the somewhat dangerous aura, nor the very noticeable absence of Williams at the meeting.

Almost vibrating with excitement, Cano's knee bounced and jiggled under his desk as he played with the possibilities of what might have happened after he had contaminated the milk.

"Now what." He whispered as he wiped a light sheen of sweat from his face. "Now what can we do to finish this."

By ten o'clock that morning, Cano had an idea .. a concept of sorts and he was able to harness his racing mind. Much of it depended upon where Danny was and where he would be – the condition that he was currently in. But it would only take time for Cano to find that out and he had nothing but time on his hands. And then, he would simply adapt to achieve the desired end result.

He'd also popped a few of prescription pain killers, swallowing them down with a warming chaser from the small flask he now carried discreetly in his inner suit coat pocket. Calmer, he took another deep breath to settle and forced himself to pull a work file from his drawer. He'd be visiting the florist during lunch for another single yellow rose. With the majority of Honolulu's finest dedicated to dismantling the major Yakuza raid, Cano was confident in his newly planned next steps.

Cano glanced around the sparse office and then looked out through the office windows at the gloomy, rainy day. "Just the two of us. Just as it should be."

But his reverie was broken when the activity in the building simply escalated two-fold. Surprised by the organized chaos, Cano stood from his desk as Girardi called him into his office. The raid had been moved up and it was "all hands on deck" to mobilize immediately. Steve and Chin were already moving out the door along with the head of HPD's SWAT unit to muster their resources.

While to a great extent, Cano's role was still behind the scenes Girardi was adament in his directions. "I need you at the DEA mobile command center .. manage DEA or any Yakuza chatter and advise of any unforeseen or unexpected activities. We're close to ending this. And we're close to bringing in Sato." Girardi pointed to a new smaller schematic which documented where that command center would soon be located near, but well outside the warehouse perimeter.

"Our van is nearly there now .. I expect you to meet it and be in place within the next fifteen minutes. This will be yours to deal with. I'm planning to bring you Sato on a platter." Girardi was moving rapidly as he filled Cano in on the next steps. "I'll be up front with the first lines."

Cano could only nod as his mind raced along this new path. Sato was a major enticement and Cano's own role was mostly administrative, but held some importance as it would relate to booking Sato. And he would take enormous pleasure in seeing Sato brought in for Ken Ito's sake. So he more than willingly gathered his own gear and jogged to his car. But Cano's brain was on fire and he was multi-tasking; for he still had time to visit the florist.

The small retail boutique had just opened and Mr. Wu was at the counter. Cano was wearing the same windbreaker and baseball cap that now made sense due to the torrential downpour. But he was clueless that Mr. Sato's wife was otherwise preoccupied at HPD headquarters; had she been there, she would have been in nervous hysterics. Mr. Wu simply wrapped the single bloom, took Cano's money and returned to the botanical magazine that he was avidly reading.

And at that same time, Kono and Duke Lukela had completed their interview with his wife, Mrs. Jan Wu. The two officers were now entranced by her proudly offered tape and what each had noticed at the same time. On the second run-through, Duke snorted in surprise and Kono grinned.

Their most jarring find was the suspect's adopted gait. In both segments of video, the man appeared to be older. He had an obvious limp as seen on the clip from the prior Thursday .. a severe lameness that looked to be from an old knee injury. He looked very much like a well-worn war veteran and what they viewed on the tape clearly matched what Grace had said after receiving the first rose at school.

No one would ever have doubted that he had been badly injured sometime in his past; that is, until they fast forwarded to the newer video clip playing from just the day before. For then, when he'd returned to the florist on that Monday afternoon … there was no limp. Not a trace nor a hitch in his stride. In fact, he held a jaunty confident swagger.

The baseball cap and windbreaker were identical; even the dark aviator sunglasses. His face remained virtually hidden as it had been during the first visit and that was clearly a major disappointment. But it was undeniably the same person. And Jan Wu swore on a Bible that it was … she was absolutely positive.

"How odd .." Kono breathed out as she paused the player and compared notes with Duke. "It's like he forgot. He was playing a role, and then simply forgot to maintain it. This could be the mother of all mistakes."

Duke agreed whole heartedly. "Same guy. We'll condense the video down to the segments we want and then get the best still to reproduce. With Mrs. Wu's additional description, we have a fairly decent profile that we'll begin circulating amongst HPD. I'll of course get the same final pieces of data to you and Five-0 as soon as it's ready."

Kono's cell phone chimed as she parted ways with the Sargeant. She listened intently to Chin as she pelted down the stairs and to her own car.

"_We're assembling now. Intel has it that Benji Sato's moved up the meet and it's going down within the next few hours. DEA's command center is nearly in place .. HPD SWAT and our group is enroute. We have fifteen minutes to get it together."_

"Be there in two.." Ending her call, Kono took comfort that Danny was still at Tripler and safely being cared for under Doctor Ramirez's dutiful eye. Hitting her lights, she was at the Palace gathering gear within minutes. She'd have the final data files from Duke within the hour – once this team mission was put to bed, Kono was anxious to review the new files with both Chin and Steve.

But as the raid was being activated and unbeknownst to the Five-0 team, Doctor Ramirez was meeting with Danny and preparing his discharge papers. Other than being extremely sore and bruised, there was no compelling reason for Danny to remain hospitalized for yet another day. Ramirez was also in the process of explaining the conditions around which Danny had become drugged including some of the reasons for Steve's pent up rage.

"So yes, the milk was contaminated with LSD. High enough levels … you were actually quite lucky." Ramirez was doing his best to share the delicate information and then wasn't entirely sure what to say about Steve's own mindset.

"As a physician and a father I fully understand the concerns about your young daughter. Should she have come in contact .. the outcome would have undoubtedly been tragic."

Danny's face clouded dangerously as he digested the new information. Whoever had done this had certainly crossed a veritable canyon into a territory from which they'd not be returning. He rubbed a shaking hand over his face as he took a few deep breaths and forced himself to relax. Now wholly preoccupied with might have happend to Grace, Danny was only half listening to the doctor's one additional bit of information.

"You fell during this … _incident_; hence the injuries to your head and arm. But there was an issue getting you safely under control. You had pulled your weapon in fact and aimed it at the Commander. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but the damage to your wrists is from having to be restrained." The doctor hesitated uncomfortably before continuing.

"And the Commander, he _ah_ .. he's the one who was forced to do so. He's blaming himself for the wounds that he feels he caused by using handcuffs to .. _ah_ .. subdue you."

"It wasn't his fault." Danny said quietly as he tried to grasp what Ramirez was saying. It explained Steve's very pained face and odd conciliatory demeanor. But the fury was growing inside over what nearly happened to Grace. His own accidental ingestion of a drug and Steve's use of cuffs to control him paled to what might have happened to his daughter.

"I need to see that tape." He murmured to himself. "And I need to see it now."

The doctor frowned in disapproval at the hushed words. "I'm releasing you to rest. Not to work and that definitely sounds like _work_." Ramirez handed Danny his discharge papers, prescription pain medication, and then motioned to a nurse who was waiting with a wheelchair.

"You're free to go _home_. Directly home. I understand the attack on you and your family .. I understand the ongoing risks.. but you need to recover for the next few days and get yourself back together. Allow HPD and your team to help you handle this."

Ramirez waited for Danny to at least nod, which he finally did but in a distracted harried manner. The response made the doctor frown unhappily as he shoved his hands deeply into his pockets, but there was no valid excuse to keep his patient under lock and key.

"Alright. Good. But do you have a ride?"

Moving to the wheelchair, Danny nodded almost too quickly. "Yeah, sure. Thanks, Doc. I'm definitely going home. Promise." But when Ramirez continued to loom over him, Danny looked up and smiled winningly as he held up his left hand in a sloppy salute.

"Honestly, yes. _Home_. Doc, I promise!" The concerned squinting eyes said that Ramirez didn't quite believe him, but the doctor finally relented as he quietly walked away to finish his rounds.

And when the nurse escorted Danny to the main reception area, he got out of the chair and asked her to call a cab for a ride to his apartment building. Should he ask, the nurse would at least be able to tell Doctor Ramirez that Danny did indeed go home.

But Danny needed to get to the Palace and review whatever data had been provided by said Mrs. Jan Wu. He first needed his car, a change of clothes and a few other particular necessities. All of those were admittedly at his apartment .. his _home_ .. so he hadn't actually told a mistruth to the good doctor. Danny just had no plans to remain there for an extended period of time.

After that, he'd decide what his own plans of action might need to be ... once he saw the tape and hashed through all of the new evidence for himself.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Danny called Duke from his office as soon as he settled himself painfully down at his desk. The building was blessedly quiet, peaceful really. And he relished not having to explain himself or argue about where he actually should be after being released from Tripler. He could just hear Steve's voice ringing in his ears about Ramirez's prescription for a full five days of R&R.

"As if, Steven." Danny smirked to himself as he waited for Duke to pick up. "Practice what you would preach, buddy."

And then handling Duke was easy enough and he thanked the man before hanging up.

"Yup, I'm fine. Been released by the doctor himself. Just a little sore. So if you could send that data over to me in email as soon as it's ready … I'd like to see what Mrs. Wu's provided. Thanks, Duke."

Sighing, Danny groaned as he carefully leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. Tired and sore, his casted right arm ached and was extremely awkward. It had taken him much longer than he had wanted to get himself organized at the apartment. First, he had been clearly surprised at the level of destruction in the small main room. While the food had been cleaned and removed, the TV was undoubtedly destroyed and he'd need to buy a new one at some point. But the volume of dried blood staining the carpet brought him to a complete standstill and he stared at it blankly for a good many minutes.

In the bedroom, he'd gathered fresh clothes one-handedly from his dresser. And in disgust, he'd finally tried to take the soft cast off his badly bruised right arm. But hissing in agony, he could barely straighten it out as sharp pains flew up from his elbow and into his bicep. His fingers trilled in pins and needles as he clutched it back to his body. He had to admit that the arm felt better supported and trussed up against his ribs, so he found himself gently replacing the annoying brace.

"Damn it." Danny muttered unhappily as he carefully changed his clothes and put the cast back on followed by the sling. He then searched half-heartedly for his cell phone. Unable to find where it had inadvertently been kicked far under the trashed couch, Danny eventually left and drove one-handed to the Five-0 offices.

Now leaning back in his chair, he dozed lightly until his email pinged softly with the promised, finished files from Duke. Using his left hand, Danny clumsily opened the file and its three individual attachments. Paging quickly through each, he saw that one was the photo still taken from the best video frame, then a written composite brief from Mrs. Wu, and the third was the actual abbreviated video.

Skipping to the video segments, Danny leaned forward to watch the footage from the prior Thursday and huffed an annoyed sound as he watched the old handicapped man stray into the store. But the newer day's worth of recording brought him in a rush to his feet with a shout of alarm.

"_**Son-ofa-bitch!**_" He yelled in a complete blind rage at the silently moving images on the video which now showed a man completely sound of body. A man still partially hidden under hat and sunglasses, but now arrogantly and boldly striding into the florist to purchase one new yellow rose. The swagger and the attitude were unmistakable.

Whatever other benign files that had been lying on Danny's desk went flying as he cleared it violently with his left hand. Heart thudding and face reddened in anger, Danny leaned over to re-watch the same short portion of tape. By the fourth rewind, he was absolutely and without a doubt very sure of whom the man was.

"I'm going to kill you .. " Danny snarled at the silhouette. Not knowing where Steve had stowed his weapon, he commandeered a new one from the Five-0 lockers and bolted from the offices. He was on his well on his way to the DEA building in an all out fury, not yet realizing that the raid had been activated and Joe Cano was no longer there.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: thank you all so very much for the fantastic reviews and comments. I appreciate every single one and I'm humbled truly, that you like this story so much._

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Ten – The Deep End**

"What do you mean he's been released?" Steve was practically shouting into his cell phone at the poor nurse unfortunate enough to pick up the phone in Danny's old hospital room. He was standing outside his truck being heavily pelted by a chilling rain while simultaneously gearing up.

"Where the hell is Doctor Ramirez? When did this happen .. where did he go?"

"Released?" Kono stared at Chin with wide eyes as she buckled her vest and ensured her weapons were ready. The rain was not letting up and it only created yet another annoying issue for the team to have to contend with. Steve had only wanted to tell Danny about the change in plans for that day. And how that change would very well conflict with a visit from his team later that afternoon or even into the early evening hours depending upon how it all might play out. However, the unexpected news that Danny had already been released unraveled their already frayed nerves.

There was a pause and Steve angrily thumbed the device off. "Danny's been released. Around ten or eleven this morning, she wasn't sure of exactly when. Ramirez is in emergency surgery. No one else seems to know anything."

"Yeah, got that boss." Kono said with a slightly worried tone in her voice as she rechecked her weapons out of habit and then stowed extra clips. None of them could afford to be distracted with the current mission a firm 'go'. But the emailed files from Duke weighed heavily on her mind and now with Danny out of Tripler, a new concern loomed.

Glancing over to Steve who had begun an aggravated pace in front of the truck, Kono frowned at a disturbing thought and whispered to herself. "How could he have? There's no way he saw the files yet .. he was just released. How could he have had the time …?"

She groaned and then looked to her cousin. "Chin, the _files_ .. suppose he saw them."

Not entirely convinced himself, Chin shook his head and tried to smile. "No, I don't think so. He's probably home with his feet up. He knew we were supposed to be at a meeting all day .. that's the only reason he didn't call."

But Steve's dark mood had only blossomed into a full-fledged storm and he couldn't shake a rising tide of dread. Ignoring them, he tried Danny's now long dead cell phone and then the office lines. Failing at both, he walked in an aimless circle staring at his device in a silent fury.

"Where did you go, D. Where _would_ you go?' Willing himself to quiet, he checked the time and had less than four minutes before the Five-0 team was required to be in position. Dialing Rachel on his last hunch, he was disappointed when she answered and told him that she hadn't yet heard from Danny.

"_He actually wouldn't call unless he knew Grace would be home. That's hours away, Steve. But if I do hear from him, I'll have him get in touch with you."_

Pocketing the phone, he turned now towards his team, schooled his features and grimly convened with HPD SWAT. Wiping sweat mingled with rain water from his face, Steve was forced to lead them forward.

"Let's go people. We have our orders. No deviating from your particular assignment unless absolutely necessary."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Out of breath and trembling, Danny stood in the now nearly empty DEA offices soaked to the skin from the heavy downpour in total astonishment. Recognizing him from prior visits, the one remaining receptionist intercepted Danny at the door and was worried when she saw the fresh bandages and his drawn, pale face.

"You're welcome to stay. But they scrambled early. I'm not privy to any of the details … I only know it was urgent. Sir, maybe you should sit …"

"When? Girardi? My team?" Trembling from both cold and anger, Danny interrupted her in a harsh breathless whisper. "Where's Joe Cano?"

"They all left about an hour ago now. And Agent Cano went too." The receptionist replied slowly with a worried frown. "But I do know Agent Cano's going to be at our mobile command center. Shall I try and reach him for you? I have permission to contact the command center …"

Danny almost barked his stunned reply. "No! Absolutely not." Jaw clenched, he stood fisting his left hand in frustration and then repeated himself as he turned on his heel.

"No. Definitely do _**not**_ call him." Danny had just enough information from the first meeting to know where the sketched plans for the command center would be in relation to the primary warehouse. There would be two in actuality – one for the DEA and another for the combined Five-0 and HPD SWAT teams. Entering the windy storm again, Danny jogged to the Camaro and then drove directly to the site of the DEA's command center. He parked close enough to watch the activity, but not too near the large van. Recognizing the Camaro and its driver, a lone DEA agent thought nothing of waving once before entering the van's side door.

But Danny merely studied the van through the Camaro's winshield wipers as the rain hammered overhead and simply waited. Without communications, not even a cell phone, Danny had no idea of the status of the raid. His own team was on the opposite side of the sprawling complex. And from the DEA's perspective, he didn't know who to trust and so was fearful of even approaching Bobby Girardi.

"What the hell am I doing?" Danny whispered as his eyes flew from the distant warehouse where the main team waited for the Yakuza and then back to the closed doors of the black van. He had abandoned the sling but the cast remained. He was also already wearing his bullet proof vest and his gun lay across his lap, fully loaded with the safety off. Leaning his head on the steering wheel, Danny closed his eyes and fought a war to for self-control.

Thinking he had come to a decision, Danny's hand finally thumbed the weapon's safety back on and his hand strayed to open the door. But before he could get out of his car, another pulled past him to park very close to the command vehicle. Peering through the rain, Danny glowered when he recognized Joe Cano and unconsciously slipped the safety of his weapon back off.

Their eyes met briefly as he drove past, and Cano laughed out loud when he saw the driver of the idling Camaro. Only needing to check on and replace a faulty communications device for one of his people, he'd retreated for a few minutes to a secondary staging location to run diagnostics.

"What a nice surprise." Cano chuckled as he parked and stared into his rearview mirror. "Coming to me .. what a very, very nice surprise." In seconds, he'd adapted his plan to end the issue with Willliams in a remote corner of the warehouse. "So much better that it's _here _too."

So now instead of entering the van, Cano got out of his own car and turned to boldly face the Camaro. Adjusting his cap and casually turning up the collar of his windbreaker against the driving rain, he smiled and then reached back into his car. With a flourish, he pulled out what looked distinctly like one yellow rose and made a show of pocketing it gently inside the jacket. And then, he simply walked away towards a far corner of the rambling warehouse.

"Come along now." Cano whispered as he took his gun out from its holster, slipped through the tall wet grasses and then through a jagged hole in the broken chain link fence. Geared up for the raid, he also wore a vest for protocol and his two weapons were loaded with extra clips stowed and ready for use. Glancing back once, he smiled wickedly when Danny did exactly what he'd hoped.

Unable to stop himself, Danny growled as a new surge of anger boiled over. Taking the bait, he dove out of his car to give chase at a slow and cautious jog. Bending down, he too went through the broken fence and tried to see where Cano had entered the old building. With his fingers now chilled to the bone, Danny panted and ran his left hand through wetly matted hair. Resting up against the side of the metal building, he shoved his gun under his belt and then fumbled to get the soft cast off his right arm wincing at the persistent spikes of pain thrumming through its entire length. The wet Velcro resisted, but he finally managed to unwrap it and drop it to the muddy ground.

In the distance, he could hear gunfire and shouts as the Yakuza were surrounded and hopefully brought into custody. But he had one goal in mind as he forced the fingers of his right hand to take up the gun. Cradling and supporting the arm with his left, he slowly propped the closest door open and peered into the darkness.

Going in low, Danny ducked behind old crates and barrels to enter the depths of the warehouse. As he grew accustomed to the poor lighting, he saw that the section had an array of high metal catwalks and ancient holding tanks of varying sizes. The roof's old skylights were broken and open to the sky and the floor was slick with rain water. A narrow rusty staircase led down to a lower level that was fully concealed in an eerie blackness. Danny barely gave that black hole a second glance as he skirted the dark edges. But the odd dank smell was sharply reminiscent of garden fertilizers and moldy grasses and he had to bite back a sneeze as the pungent odor assaulted him.

Cautiously, Danny sidled along a wall and tried to hear or see where Cano might be hiding. But the echoing whisper and chuckle had him ducking nervously behind a tall stack of pallets.

"I see you. This won't take long." Cano's harshly whispered voice ricocheted off the large tanks. "You destroyed so very much .. too much. It's time for payback."

Danny frowned in confusion and then refused to answer the man as he rapidly searched high and low for the origin of the voice. His gun was wrapped tightly in the painful fingers of his right hand, and he needed his left to maintain the grip and keep his weak, throbbing arm steady.

The first shot that rang out hit a metal strut near Danny's right ear and he found himself diving and rolling roughly behind another stack of rotten wooden pallets. The rapidly fired second and third shots kept him actively on the defensive and he was out of breath by the time he'd been forced into a much too dark void. The space was a small landing for yet another rusted and broken staircase that led to the lower warehouse level. Crouched in a corner, Danny was virtually trapped with no options but down.

Forcing his arm up, he groaned at the excruciating pain that lanced into his elbow as he vainly searched for movement. Before sighting his weapon, he wiped his forehead on the sleeve of his shirt and then pulled off one shot.

Cano winced as the unexpected bullet lightly creased his upper arm. Hissing at the sharp pain, he looked at the minor bleeding wound and smiled. Flicking his headset on and sounding very nervous, in pain and greatly out of breath, he radioed the Command Center for help. For effect and to keep him down, he peppered Danny's location with three rounds.

"_This is Cano. I need assistance at the western section of the warehouse. I have at least one suspect pinned .. shots fired .. "_

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: once the saber-toothed plot bunny shows up, anything can happen! Thank you CinderH (I can't say that enough). And to everyone that I haven't had time to thank personally. I love and appreciate the great reviews and comments. _

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Eleven – The Deep End**

For a second, Danny angrily tried to reason with Cano but his words were cut off by a sharp volley of bullets that sprayed the wall behind his head. Before he could breathe, another round of fire forced him hard backwards towards the staircase and he stumbled to one knee as something sharply bit into his calf muscle. Within seconds, he was cursing as he felt the hot heat of blood dripping down his leg and knew he'd been hit either directly or by a ricochet.

Danny could sense that Cano had crept closer and knew his aim was decidedly excellent. The man was trying to herd him down the dangerous stairwell but Danny had absolutely no intention of doing that if he could help it. He needed to get around the man and into a good offensive position versus being the target.

Danny set his jaw irritably and pursed his lips in a grim furious line. Leaning against the wall, he pulled the oldest game in the book to distract Cano and to give himself an opportunity. He was surrounded by old corroded metal and the floor was littered with various pieces of debris, including metallic bits that had fallen from the sunken roof. Danny kept an active watch for movement as his left hand blindly searched the rubble for something hefty to toss. With a satisfied grin, he found a short L-shaped piece of metal and awkwardly heaved it in a reasonable direction. As another volley of shots echoed, Danny scrambled away from the treacherous staircase towards a stack of metal drums and then slipped badly on the rain-slicked concrete surface. Landing heavily on his right side, he felt a nauseating flash of pain that circulated up his arm and numbed his fingers. Danny gasped at the shock while he frantically fumbled for his gun with his left hand.

Groaning quietly, he forced himself up and limped his way towards the center of the building. And then with great care tediously chose well-shadowed areas and eventually managed to swing around successfully. With Cano now in front of him, Danny had a big advantage that he had no intention of losing.

"And. Now,_** I**_ see _**you**_." Danny whispered sarcastically, as he took control of the situation and began edging back out the door towards daylight. But he hadn't realized that Cano had radioed for backup as a shadow blocked the dim light from the doorway. Ducking down, Danny narrowly evaded being seen by the second DEA agent coming to assist Cano and then desperately needed another plan.

Danny frowned at the appearance of a second agent and became immediately challenged as he tried to split his attention between the two stealthily moving figures. The bullet wound in his leg was a minor annoying ache compared to the savage pain that lanced from his elbow and now into his entire arm. He hissed and then cradled his elbow to his body when he tried to straighten it out. With his hand and fingers seizing continually from jarring flashes that felt like thousands of hot needles, he could no longer lift his right arm or hold his weapon.

Slowly, he backed up and rested in a gloomy corner. The distant shouts and gunfire had just about stopped and he was growing weary as his adrenalin waned.

"Come on people." He muttered to himself. As the raid wound down, his empty car would be questioned. Cano and this other agent would be missed in the very least. But Danny was sure that he simply couldn't afford to wait or remain exposed. Without communications and blocked from leaving once again, he hesitated on who he would be able trust on this side of the line.

Searching his immediate area, his eyes landed on a rickety set of metal stairs that was partially hidden behind four large vats. Studying its heavily shadowed path, he could tell that it led up to a suspended platform that was well concealed in the gloomy shadows of the broken warehouse structure. Without a second thought, Danny shoved his gun into his belt and used his left hand to haul himself slowly up each step. Parts of the dilapidated frame swayed but they held as he squirmed his way across the flat surface and into the darkest recesses. Within minutes he was completely hidden and had a bird's eye view of the men who still lurked below. If needed, he could neutralize his attackers and defend himself from this better vantage point.

By then, Cano had abandoned his search of where Danny had tossed the piece of metal and was carefully working his way back towards the murky stairwell that led down to the lower levels. His posture said that he was belligerant; irate at giving in to the ploy and his movements were jittery. The second DEA agent was flanking Cano on a wide tangent which made Danny huff happily. For the moment, they were on the other side of the building, he was somewhat safe and could rest in peace.

Tiredly, he pulled his right arm into his lap and leaned back carefully against the rusted corner of the platform. With some concern, he briefly examined the wound in his calf and grimaced at the small hole which was bleeding sluggishly. But now, with what seemed like all the time in the world, Danny held his gun in his left hand and smiled almost smugly as a damp chill shook him.

"Now, I see you both."

He was confused by Cano's maddened shouting about what he'd personally destroyed on the man. Near as Danny could figure, Cano was the one making bad decisions and acting like a complete loon.

"Well." Danny muttered ironically as he mentally kicked himself and listened to the rain pounding on the broken metal roof. "This decision wasn't actually the best one either."

But he'd needed to know for sure .. he needed to put an end to whatever it was .. and he was here now. And what he'd learned was mind boggling. Danny breathed out a list of those he knew Cano had either inadvertently hurt or put in jeopardy. As he thought of each, Danny's temper flared again as he watched the shapes creeping on the warehouse floor below him. Grace now twice, himself too many times to count, Kono, Steve and not to mention the man's own DEA agents.

At some point, Cano had begun to completely unravel and the demotion proved it; his more recent insane actions proved it. His work suffered, he had virtually no relationships and the escalation to the present state confirmed a psychotic break from reality. And he, Danny Williams, for what ever reason had become the much hated scape-goat that was going to pay for all of Cano's nasty woes in life.

Sighing disgustedly, Danny shook his head and was still confused. Sitting hidden on the platform as Cano raged below him, he _almost_ ... but not quite, felt sorry for the man.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

The raid on the Yakuza was a complete surprise and over within minutes of beginning. There were very few wounded on either side as the expert plans were executed well and seamlessly. Pushing from east to west, Steve and Chin corralled three men including Benji Sato, the ring leader that the DEA and Bobby Girardi wanted so very badly.

Zip-tied and now fully incapacitated, the three were marched to the DEA Command Center vehicle for processing. Steve waited impatiently while the second swarm of agents took possession of the criminals and then radioed Girardi himself about the good news.

"Your man is here." Steve stated blandly. "Alive and waiting for you personally." He then cut the connection and looked to Chin.

"Let's go." Steve motioned and then turned to start back into the building in order to check on status, but he was stayed by the urgent hand on his shoulder.

"Steve. That's Danny's car … he's here. He's on site." Chin was blinking rapidly in total disbelief as he jogged over to the Camaro to check its contents. "Empty."

Twirling in a circle, Steve tried to see each and every person in the near vicinity. "I don't see him .. maybe in the van?" But a young agent interrupted them as he walked by with a cuffed prisoner.

"I saw him park a little while ago. Not sure where he went …" And then almost helpfully, he added.

"Agent Cano called for help and we've been a little distracted here. I thought Detective Williams was still in his car. For Cano, we could only send one other person to help him out .. and that guy radioed in a few seconds ago that the suspect might have gone into the lower levels of this western corner …that they should have him soon. They were in pursuit .. shots were being exchanged and the perp had been hit. They almost have him …"

Steve froze as his blood pressure went up another notch and the agent stuttered at the looming angry SEAL. For a moment Steve could only glare at the man as dangerous thoughts rapid-fired through his mind.

"What … what did I say?"

Chin was stunned and then automatically intervened with one hand on Steve's chest. "I agree. It's him .. it's been him all along. Steve …he and Danny .. they're in there."

The two nodded and simply took off at a dead run through the rain to retrace the steps that Cano and Danny had made so many minutes ago. As they approached the side of the building, Steve bent down to pick up the grimy white soft cast that lay in the mud.

"Chin .. " Steve gripped the material in his hand for a moment before dropping it. The next spattering of gunfire had them sprinting into the building.

Shoulder to shoulder, they hesitated together as their eyes acclimated to the dim light. Motioning for radio silence, Steve indicated that they would spread out to flank each side of the area. Moving along the right wall, Steve crouched down behind a low pile of rotted pallets as he tried to take a headcount in the darkness. But he frowned when he couldn't hear or see much of anything. The downpour was monsoon-like and the noise was deafening as it pounded what was left of the metal roofing.

He could barely make out Joe Cano in the distance, but not the other agent. Chin was off to his far left moving slowly forward. A shake of the head meant that he too had limited sight. And neither could see nor communicate with Danny.

Steve ground his teeth in a fury. The DEA's own communication and practices were ignorant; distressingly limited and certainly not sensible. And to realize now that the threat against Danny was from someone literally in their own backyard was infuriating. Steve rubbed his forehead hard in an attempt to focus but he couldn't push down the rising surge of dread that was resurfacing.

"Damn it Danno. Why couldn't you just wait?" Steve said in a harsh whisper. But he knew the answer .. he knew that Danny had likely gone to the DEA offices first only to discover that plans had changed. Coming here would have been the likely next step. But Steve was furious that Danny had come to the DEA Command Center and not his own.

"Idiot." He breathed out crossly. And then he flinched unconsciously as something like a small pebble ricocheted sharply off his head. Using his left hand, Steve smoothed his wet hair without taking his eyes off the main floor. But then another small object pinged off his shoulder and he grunted in annoyance. A third soon followed to plunk off his head and his left hand flew up to cover his hair. Bothered now, he distractedly glanced up and then did a double-take in complete wonder. Sitting above him and poised to toss another small bolt or tiny metal washer was a grinning Danny.

Putting his finger to his lips, Danny was entertaining himself as he pointed out Cano's ever-moving position and the second agent's hiding place. He shrugged dramatically at Steve's shocked expression and then gave him a weary "_go get 'em_" wave of his hand.

But under the grin, he was pale and his eyes looked pained. Steve could see the shadow of blood on his hand along with a slight tremble. And then another signal made Steve huff a disgusted sound. The one finger that came up was emphaticaly waggled in Steve's direction as Danny clearly mouthed "_behave_".

Steve's own answering expression and adamant hand motion made Danny wince and he bit back a humorless chuckle. Both clearly said, "_We'll see. And then .. me and you .. we're talking later_."

But he frowned when Danny weakly leaned back into the shadows on his elevated perch and was once again nearly invisible.

With an understanding glower, Steve kept one eye on the platform as he caught up to parallel Chin. Signaling a stop, he motioned towards where Danny sat hidden. He grinned wryly as Chin's startled eyes skittered upwards and eventually made out the faint darkened silhouette. His own silent question was unmistakable and Chin grimaced when Steve scowled and nodded only once.

Danny was undoubtedly injured and they needed to end this with Cano sooner rather than later.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: once the saber-toothed plot bunny shows up, anything can happen! Sorry for the delay today - this was done and then the two muses had an argument of sorts. Saber Toothed Bunny came out on top._

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Twelve– The Deep End**

Kono felt she had done a fairly good job of keeping her temper in check .. patronizing everyone .. being everywhere, at once. Truly supportive. All things to all people. And because of these attributes, along with her reliable nature, it was how she justified her livid anger when she couldn't find either her cousin or Steve and then learned that they'd gone off with Joe Cano.

With a firm hand clamped to the shoulder of a Yakuza underling that she'd brought to the DEA van to hand off, she glared at Girardi. "They're where? Doing what?"

However, Girardi only had half the information correct and he sighed distractedly. His attention was on a heavily guarded Benji Sato now being escorted by four agents to an armored Suburban.

"Uh, yeah. One of my guys said they ran off to help Cano along with one or two of our other agents to track down a lone suspect …"

But the news didn't make sense and absolutely didn't add up … and the fact that neither team member was on line was oddly significant. She wasn't sure now if she was mad about not being kept informed or worried because their alleged activity was so out of the norm.

"So why can't I raise them? Why the radio silence?" With an off-handed shrug, Girardi walked away to make sure his primary Yakuza target was secure and completely locked down. He then demanded a second escort for the Suburban. And as she rounded the front of the DEA Command van in order to catch up to him, that was when Kono finally saw the Camaro.

"When did that get here? When did Danny show up?" She was about to throw her hands up in the air in total disgust when she nearly choked in surprise.

"Damn! I knew it!" As she had worried before, Kono knew now that Danny had definitely seen the clips and reviewed the files. But why he'd be here at the raid was an open question .. _unless_ .. he found something .. _unless_ ..he knew who it was and possibly that there was a link.

"Bobby, come here." Grabbing the DEA Supervisor by the scruff, Kono yanked her cell phone out of a pocket and then shielded the device from the rain.

"Who's in this video? Do you recognize him?" Fast forwarding to the latest segment where the man in the florist's boutique had no limp, she practically shoved the device in his face.

"Who do you see?"

With an almost aggravated glance at her very serious face, Girardi sighed in resignation and then dutifully watched the short clip. It took him less than five seconds for him to study the profile and the arrogant, purposeful walk. And then with no hesitation at all, he blurted out.

"It's Joe. That's Joe Cano. Why do you have him recorded like this? Why are you watching him?" Girardi was baffled as he afforded Kono his undivided attention. But rather than a further explanation, she began to give him unexpected demands.

"You have to do something." With an inward groan, Kono was talking fast and moving quickly as she physically pulled him along with her back towards the warehouse.

"Cano's been terrorizing Danny and his family. We had no idea .. we just got this video pulled together this morning. Danny was hospitalized from the latest attack .. he must have seen the clip and recognized Cano. Just like you did."

Of everyone on the Five-0 team, Danny had spent the most time with Cano. Now that she thought of it, of course he'd recognize the man's demeanor, his profile, way of walking, and his unconscious habits. And only another of the man's close co-worker's would as well. But Girardi pulled away from her in total confusion and rooted himself to the ground.

"Whoa! Wait. I don't understand what you're getting at. What attacks? Terrorizing?" Girardi was defensive as his brain caught up to what she was saying. "This personality conflict has gone too far .. he has his problems, but Joe wouldn't do that …he's …"

His tirade was interrupted when they heard a distant short volley of shared gunfire from the warehouse. Kono was newly anxious as she once again tried to pull him along.

"Honestly Bobby, we don't have time for this. If you have any agents supposedly in there right now _helping_ Cano, call a cease fire and get them out of there. Please trust me on this or it's going to get uglier than it already is. And I need you with me. You might be the only one who can get through to Cano."

He waited then - almost unable to move - as the rain poured down and he sincerely studied her apprehensive face. She was virtually bouncing on her toes impatiently as she waited for him to make the right decision.

"Bobby, there's no way any Yakuza got through the line to this side of the complex. None. Cano is not who you think he is .. I'm sorry, but he's dangerous."

Girardi made a face as he considered the drastic information. "Are you saying that McGarrett and Williams' accident was caused by my agent? That's he's psychotic? He was cleared .. he ..."

Kono's face reddened angrily as a few more distant shots reached their ears. "You don't know the half of it. What I will say is that Cano is after Danny in that warehouse right now. He means to kill him. Steve and Chin are not _**with**_ Cano, they're trying to stop him from committing a murder."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Agent Russell hesitated and then whispered in a harsh voice to Supervisor Girardi through his wireless headset. "Yes, this is Russell. But Cano and I .. no .. _**what**_? But we're closing in ..wait .. _**who**_ are they?"

Russell was entirely confused and then incredulous as orders to cease fire and relinquish his weapon to the Five-0 officers were urgently communicated. He couldn't help wavering yet again as he peered over an ancient rusted barrel for he thought he was exchanging fire with new Yakuza reinforcements and certainly not his Five-0 counterparts.

Truly unsure of himself, he called out towards the unknown person he'd just been trying to essentially decapitate. "Ah.. this is Agent Russell .. Identify yourself."

And he was instantly mortified when Lieutenant Chin Ho Kelly responded back and cautiously poked his own head out from behind a large metal stanchion.

"Oh my god." The surprised agent mumbled to himself before recovering and then shouting out his surrender to Chin. "Coming out. Weapons down! Cease fire! We're under a cease fire!" Russell thumbed the safety on his gun and then placed it carefully on a neighboring barrel. With a satisfied nod, Chin also lowered his own weapon and approached the concerned agent.

"How did this just happen?"

But Chin didn't offer too much of an explanation as he scooped up the agent's side-arm, removed the clip, and then took him by the arm to escort him out of the building. It was obvious that the man wasn't part of Cano's plan and had been absolutely mislead.

"Your office .. your team .. has been compromised. Is there anyone else besides Agent Cano in here?"

The agent shook his head as he rubbed an unbelieving hand across his face and walked in front of Chin. He was still at an utter loss about what had just happened and couldn't stop from apologizing. But Chin was eyeing the platform where Danny sat virtually hidden from view and thought about Steve who was closing in on Cano. They still had much to worry about and Chin was in a rush to get the distraught agent out and away from the location without further incident.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Danny had no idea what had just occurred down below, but he sighed with relief when the second DEA Agent simply ceased firing at Chin and lay his weapon down. He'd considering even taking a few warning shots to cover Chin, but the angle was poor and the lighting much too limited.

He could still almost see Steve on the farthest side of the building; however he was now disappearing into the gloom after Cano who seemed to be retreating. But Danny wasn't sure that the word 'retreat' was in the agent's new crazed vocabulary. With a pained groan from sitting much too long, Danny checked the makeshift bandage he had tied around his leg. He then shoved the gun into his belt and carefully began to move across the platform in order to make his way back down the metal staircase.

His right arm was a total mess and the dull throbbing wound in his left leg hampered him as he carefully took the first few tentative steps. The best he could do was one step at a time leading with his right foot and then shimmying his left hand forward on the old rail. He felt like a ninety-year old man as he began the deliberate trek down each of the steps.

It was difficult going and Danny tried to be quiet but within seconds he was sweating and out of breath; fighting back a new wave of nausea and light headedness. And with the old structure now swaying alarmingly with his odd movements, Danny was desperate to reach the bottom in one piece. He was more than half way down when he really began to struggle tiredly and lose steam. And as the platform gave out with a startling metallic creak that sounded loudly throughout the old warehouse, Danny froze in mid-step and hastily scanned the floor of the building. The sound was so raucously loud, it pierced the deafening drumming of the heavy rain. It was obvious that the badly corroded bolts ratcheted into the high beams of the ancient roof resented Danny's slowly moving and heavily shifting weight.

"Please stay." He muttered meaning the old metal stairs and their struts. "Just a few more feet. Just .. stay."

Taking a deep breath, he resumed his awkward step-thump, step-thump gait and then stumbled badly as he finally hit the firm concrete floor. He glanced up with chagrin at the platform and shook his head with a softly sounded but very relieved snort. Up, had definitely been easier than coming down in more ways than one.

Danny leaned against the wall, closed his eyes and counted his many aches. His light headed feeling made him dizzy and he definitely deserved the contempt of Ramirez once he saw the good doctor. But for that very moment, with his body screaming at him about the ongoing abuse, all he wanted to do was rest again. The cold smoothness of the warehouse wall was perfectly fine as far as he was concerned. So now he breathed through the nausea as he resisted the strong urge to simply collapse into a miserable heap on the wet floor.

He almost gave out with a bitter chuckle as his weary mind found a new solution for dealing with Doctor Ramirez. The thought was brought up short as he squinted with alarm at the dark shape moving rapidly towards him. It began to look like Steve, but his hand strayed to the gun in his belt and he awkwardly pulled it out just in case. Aiming the gun uneasily at the hazy form, Danny made sure that a bullet was in the chamber as he muttered to himself.

"A different hospital .. I'll just go to a different hospital. Find another doctor. He'll never know."

The shape slowly became more discernible and Danny relaxed when he did finally recognize Steve. But Steve's face was harried and his hand was out-stretched in askance. He was clearly worried when he saw the weapon at the ready and raised in warning.

"Hey, easy. It's me!"

"Oh. Good." Danny sighed as he lowered it to his side and then blinked rapidly to clear his vision. "Steve. Did you get him?'

Steve didn't answer as he slowed to a stop in front of his friend. He was admittedly angry as he holstered his own gun and then placed a hand on each of Danny's sagging shoulders not only to hold him up, but also to give him a little shake.

"No." The simple statement made Danny's face fall. But Steve wasn't done as he made time to reprimand the injured man.

"You're an idiot Danno. I heard the staircase .. how did you even get up there? I thought the damned thing was coming down with you on it. Girardi and Kono are here and they're flanking the area – doing another sweep. But I was closer to get back and check on you." He whispered the words harshly as he looked from the rotted platform and then to Danny's pale, sweaty complexion.

"You look like absolute crap." Steve gently inspected Danny's right arm down to his elbow eliciting a sharp pained hiss.

"Must you?" Danny griped unhappily as he unsuccessfully tried to pull away. The swelling was severe and Danny was holding the entire arm at an odd angle. Unable to help himself, Steve grimaced when he saw the puffy fingers.

"If it looks bad .. then it's bad, Steven." He flinched and glared as Steve connected with a particularly painful section of his forearm. "For the uninitiated, that means leave it alone. Don't touch."

He grew even more irritated as Steve gently held his limp hand. "Can you squeeze my fingers?"

"What are you .. channeling Ramirez now?"Danny quirked his eyebrows with a clearly disgusted expression and then tried to change the subject. "So where do you think Cano is?"

There was a war-weary sigh as Steve shook his head and once again searched the shadows. "This damned place is huge and there are just too many places to hide. I think he went below. So Girardi has a squad down there while he and Kono sweep up here again."

He was momentarily distracted as he quickly catalogued Danny's injuries and half-watched the area around them. "But I want _**you**_ out of here. _**Now**_."

Steve continued to scowl with a promise of what was to come. And that look followed by the adamant words only made Danny return the challenge with an equally defiant stare.

"You shouldn't be here at all. What were you thinking." Looking down at his hand that still lightly gripped Danny's lax fingers, he crossly demanded once more. "And you're hand's like ice. _Fingers_ .. Danno. Can you move them or make a fist?"

With an exasperated sigh, Danny twitched his fingers successfully but was wholly unable to make a fist due to the swelling. However, it was enough to make Steve nod with some approval at the meager movement.

"That's good I guess. But I think a bone in your forearm is broken and maybe even your elbow. What did you do?" Glancing down at the leg wound, he wove his hands through his hair and then bent down to check the shabby bandage.

"It's a clean through and through. Can you walk out of here?"

But an odd movement directly behind Steve caught Danny's eye and he didn't reply. Instead, he frowned and gazed blearily over the broad shoulder as he endured the complaints, annoying demands and painful triage. Totally preoccupied, Danny now only grunted since he wasn't paying particular attention. The odd shadows were swirling and Danny wasn't sure if it was his fading energy or if there was an actual shape forming in the murky darkness.

Mesmerized by the shape-sifting grayish pools of light and dark, he squinted again as he tried to make up his mind. And the fingers on his left hand twitched automatically around his gun. As he peered past old equipment, rusted barrels and stacked moldy crates, he barely heard Steve repeat his question about his being able to walk out of the warehouse and to a waiting ambulance.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: once the saber-toothed plot bunny shows up, anything can happen! and yeah, okay - crappy work week means extra special fast posting of chapter. It soothes my heart to do something constructive when I'm surrounded by nincompoops half the time. And, no I don't know how to spell that word but you all know what I mean, I'm sure! The resume is out ... LOL! And so is this tiny chapter - poor Danny. Doctor Ramirez is going to be pretty darned annoyed soon._

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Thirteen– The Deep End**

Cano grit his teeth as he watched the two Five-0 men and decided what to do next. He was furious at himself for having lost Danny in the depths of the building. And then for having been pushed into a defensive position by McGarrett. Cano snorted in disgust and blatantly ignored Girardi's shouted demands for a cease fire.

But the absolute last straw was when Agent Russell had finally abandoned him and obeyed Girardi. At the new anxious shouts of agreeing to the cease fire, Cano had finally torn the wireless communications unit off his head in a fit of rage. But as he stomped the small device into pieces, a horrific screech rang out from the weakening metal platform and it drew him closer towards the opposite area of the warehouse. And now he watched closely as McGarrett catered to Williams and he grinned as he readied his weapon. Williams looked just about done in and worn out. He was bent over at the waist and clearly struggling to remain on his feet. Cano couldn't see the blood on the wounded leg, but by the wobbly stance and manner in which McGarrett was so solicitously concerned, he knew that at least one bullet had found its intended mark.

He'd also seen Girardi come in just a few minutes prior. The supervisor was well armed and astonishingly, Kalakaua was with him. But he had easily skirted them at least for the time being. And with former friends, now foe .. Cano's ire only grew and he added Girardi to his list. But only after Williams; Cano could only manage one thing at a time. And then after he handled this major issue, he'd need to get off the property to regroup.

He growled to himself as his mean eyes narrowed to slits. "Yes, first things .. first."

Steve glanced up briefly and furrowed his brow as Danny leaned forward slightly more and seemed to squint into the darkness. Worriedly, Steve placed his hand back on the sloped shoulder to hold him up as Danny made what sounded like a confused noise.

"Hey, you okay?" But Danny seemed to be completely zoning out and Steve picked up his pace to hurriedly switch his attention downwards in order to check the sluggishly bleeding leg wound. He gave Danny another little shake but failed at getting his attention or an intelligible reply. "Can you make it out of here?"

For Danny, the enthralling bouncing shadows had drawn him in. He couldn't help himself from studying one that grew and then suddenly solidified to become whole. His eyes widened in surprise as a new surge of adrenalin automatically forced his left hand up in a wild rush. The unexpected motion made Steve duck reflexively. "Hey! Danny!"

But his partner's voice burst out in alarm and as he awkwardly aimed his weapon, Danny fired off three rounds in a quick succession. "Down! Down now!"

Cano was close and rushing them. His weapon was drawn and he was aiming for the back of Steve's head. Out of sheer habit, Steve didn't think twice about the shouted order and hit the ground in front of Danny as the insanely loud reverberating gunshots went off practically in his ear. He almost heard the whistle of a bullet skim by the right side of his head as it plowed into an old stack of crates. Another pinged sharply off the warehouse wall and ricocheted back into the same pile of wood to send splitters flying.

Steve rolled instantly away coming up quickly with his own weapon neatly drawn and one hand up protectively placed in the direction of Danny's chest. But Danny had struck first and Cano's shots had gone wide. A quick relieved glance told him that Danny was still on his feet, almost no worse for wear.

Taking a step backwards, that same hand physically found the front of Danny's vest as he took up a better protective stance directly in front of his friend. Danny was still wide-eyed and now aiming his gun at the man who lay in front of them on the floor. His left hand held the gun at an awkwardly flat angle, but his aim was still true. Nearly at their feet, with his upper body stretched out and hidden partially behind a large steel drum, was Joe Cano.

"Vest." Danny was panting as his abrupt motion caused pain to explode through his right arm. He briefly waggled the gun in the air before dropping his left hand down to his side. "He's only… stunned .. vest."

And then Steve was on the move, kicking Cano's gun to the side and flipping him efficiently onto his stomach. The agent was moaning in shock, giving out little shattered coughs, and one hand strayed to where Danny's bullets had hit him dead center of his chest. He had been close enough for the force of the shots to have taken him right off his feet and for all the breath to be knocked out of his lungs. Within seconds, Cano was cuffed and Steve had searched him to remove one additional fully loaded weapon, the switchblade and all of his extra clips.

Doing a final check of the man's pockets, Steve's hand closed on an oddly shaped soft item tucked into the lining of Cano's windbreaker. Giving a little tug, Steve cursed angrily as he pulled out the final hidden yellow rose. He then dropped it unceremoniously on top of the agent's chest.

At that point, Danny finally did slide down the wall in absolute exhaustion. Dropping his gun on his lap, he allowed his right arm to hang limply at his side. He took one look at the offensive flower, placed his forehead on his right knee and closed his eyes. Small exhausted trembles shook his body as he refused to look at the man.

"I still don't get it." He muttered to himself. Distractedly, Danny sat slumped on the ground and listened to the mounting activity around him. He only barely registered that Girardi and Kono had run up after having heard the short exchange of gunfire. All that mattered to him was that Grace was safe and that the madness was over.

Two additional DEA agents had arrived and everyone was astounded by the change of events with one of their own. For the moment, amongst the loud arguing voices, Danny had almost been completely forgotten as the new turmoil focused on what to do after securing the rogue agent.

Girardi was beside himself as he lashed out at Cano, wanting to know everything all at once. But Cano resolved his supervisor's questions as soon as he regained his breath. In fact, his shouting and the obscenities started as Steve manhandled him roughly to his feet. He was still coughing sporadically and slightly bent now himself as his ribs grated from the too close percussion of the consecutive bullets. Everything then escalated into an all out physical struggle with the bound man as he tried to attack Girardi. And when his overwhelmed superior only tried to calm and move him away, Cano began to strain even harder against the cuffs and the many hands now holding him back from an all out effort to finish off Danny. With Steve preoccupied with the small group fighting to control Cano, Kono cocked her weapon warningly as she stood in front of where Danny sat on the floor

"It's him. And after I take care of _him_, you're next. You're all to blame!" At that point, it took Girardi's, Steve's and another agent's combined muscle to move the crazed man from the warehouse. All the while Kono continued to stand guard near Danny. And finally, as Cano's voice disappeared from the vicinity, Kono dropped to her knees and stowed Danny's own weapon.

"Can you walk if I help?" She asked quietly as she gently took his left arm and offered her support. The short nod wasn't convincing and Kono waited as he gathered his remaining energy just to stand. He rocked alarmingly and Kono quickly draped his arm over her shoulder as she patiently paused for him to catch his breath.

"Ready?" Nodding mutely, Danny's teeth were clenched as each hobbled step jolted not only his arm but the wound in his left leg. His eyes closed again as he concentrated on merely putting one foot in front of the other. With absolute faith, he allowed Kono to guide him blindly forward.

He sensed that Chin had shown up by the time they'd reached the warehouse door, and that he had smoothly changed places with Kono to take up his weight. He wanted to apologize for not being able to do more, but Danny's voice failed him and Chin only muttered a soft _'shush, almost there_." And once her cousin had Danny, Kono started a quick jog back to the DEA van radioing their location for an ambulance and medics.

But by that time it didn't matter. Danny's body had had enough and less than halfway back to the Command Center van he simply sagged in Chin's arms to sit down with a stunned exclamation amongst the mud and cold pelting rain. Within minutes of leaving the building, Danny simply shut down entirely and Chin had to catch his upper body as it fell limply over.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	14. Chapter 14

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: darned saber toothed bunny! Continued thanks to CinderH. This was supposed to be the last chapter .. sigh .. anybody got carrots? Thank you for the amazing and astounding reviews. And for the well wishes for my job. I love what I do .. just not where I work .. *sigh* there could be worse things I guess! _

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Fourteen – The Deep End**

Danny awoke in an almost silent recovery room at Tripler Army Medical. He first heard the soft beeps of his heart monitor and took comfort in the breath-taking warmth of the many blankets covering his body. There were a number of light foot steps both coming and going; the very atmosphere held a comforting feeling of organized activity. He knew that he was on oxygen – the mask was almost restricting as it lay across his nose and mouth. And after the overwhelmingly loud drumming of the rain on the dilapidated warehouse roof, the reversal to a complete lack of sound was equally deafening. So he latched onto the soft mechanical beeps and the quiet conversation taking place at the foot of his bed. He didn't recognize the voices but they seemed to be discussing Danny's post surgical results and he unconsciously made a face. _Surgery_?

After leaving the warehouse with Kono, Danny didn't remember a thing except being in an incredible amount of pain, soaked to the skin, as well as chilled to the bone. He was only semi-conscious when Steve and Chin linked arms and worked together to carry him with the help of a few DEA agents to a waiting ambulance. There had been shouting, possibly an argument, another flash of agonizing pain through his injured arm, a glimpse of Steve's angry face. But after that point in time - nothing.

So now, Danny lay quietly with his eyes closed and listened to the calming drone and dozed. His right arm was heavy as it lay across his chest and with a muzzy head he belatedly realized that would be the reason for any surgery. Whatever damage to nerves, muscle and bone had been cared for and his arm was now in a hard-cast. It briefly worried him, but the nauseating pain was completely gone and he was dry, warm and he finally felt safe again. He never tried to open his eyes as the light doze eventually became a deeper sleep and Danny missed his anti-climactic move from recovery and to his own private room.

He also completely missed Ramirez's shocked and eventually outraged face at being presented with a cuffed, restrained and highly volatile Joe Cano who had arrived after Danny in a second ambulance. The argument that Danny barely now registered had taken place at the staging location. And it wasn't an actual argument as much as an intervention.

Steve and Agent Russell had effectively extricated Joe Cano from the first ambulance in order for Danny to be rushed to Tripler. Up until that happened, Cano had been sitting cuffed and somewhat calmly on the bumper while his vest was being removed from his body for his ribs to be checked. He was coughing harshly and surrounded by his old team plus a few well armed HPD SWAT members. When he saw Steve, he'd used his legs to rock backwards into the vehicle once again screaming obscenities and wishing the world death.

Agent Russell had jumped into the ambulance to grab the cuffed arms in an attempt to yank him off the vehicle so the gurney could be loaded. But Cano was lurching, jumping and trying to kick Russell away from him. After connecting painfully with Russell's shin, Steve simply had stepped up alongside, taken aim and punched Cano once. Hard. Square in the face. The blow had shut him up instantly and simultaneously dropped him to his knees.

With a thin angry set to his mouth, Steve had then glanced only once to Russell and grabbed the opposite side of Cano's cuffed hands. The two had dragged the now silent man out of the vehicle unceremoniously dumping him near the second ambulance doors as it arrived.

The gurney with Danny was loaded and as far as Steve was immediately concerned, the right man was now being cared for and transported first to Tripler.

With additional escorts demanded by Steve from the HPD SWAT team, Cano's very minor arm wound had been cleaned and bandaged in the second ambulance. And he remained under heavy guard when he arrived at the hospital.

Ramirez had preferred to hand the man off to another attending, but at Steve's adamant request he set his jaw irritably and had personally remained without asking for any immediate explanations. Without a doubt, the tension was obviously palpable between the DEA team and the combined forces of HPD and Five-0. The doctor's mind was racing as Danny was scheduled for orthopedic surgery and Cano was brought in to him still raging and fully restrained.

When they garnered a few moments together, Steve had quickly explained the situation to the doctor. Ramirez was speechless when he learned that Cano had been the one to poison the milk at Danny's apartment. So with an irritated expression, Ramirez was cold but efficient in his examination of the injured man. Agreeing with Five-0, the doctor demanded that guards remain and that cuffs nor restraints be removed until further notice. And even though Cano had begun to quiet from his own exhaustive struggles, Ramirez called for sedation in order to safely inspect and then provide treatment. And Cano remained under that sedation for the x-rays that confirmed two cracked ribs and then the further exams that detected a bruised lung.

Steve was taking zero chances with who was placed near the agent and breezily countermanded or amended whatever orders Agent Girardi put in place if there was a semblance of inadequacy. And Girardi totally understood the team's need and accepted each adjustment or modification willingly and with a sense of a graceful compromise. In fact, Girardi and his DEA office had become uncharacteristically lifeless. The thrill of apprehending Benji Sato was replaced with a morose sense of embarrassment.

And Danny may have thought he awoke alone, but in reality both Chin and Kono loitered incessantly outside whatever room he had been in once reaching the hospital. That included the operating theater and now the private room he'd finally been transferred to. Chin and Kono met with the surgeon as Danny was finally settled in the bed.

The doctor patiently explained that Danny would sleep for a good many hours. "I understand from Doctor Ramirez that he was released earlier today? Bed rest actually."

Kono nodded unhappily in the hallway as she watched efficient nurses transfer Danny to a bed. "Yeah, he'd been intentionally drugged just the day before. And before that .. had been working incessantly on his own case. He was exhausted before this even happened."

"Yes, I read the medical files." The new doctor was amazed by Danny's case and he shook his head in wonder at his patient's alarming recent history. "His leg wound is minor. But I spent a great deal of time repairing two broken bones in his arm and stabilizing his elbow …your friend has been in a great deal of pain. I don't envy him for this injury."

Chin was alarmed and then made a face at the news. "Will the arm heal? I mean ..he's right handed .. he needs .." The doctor interrupted him as he nodded in understanding and raised his hand for them to wait for more of an explanation.

"With time. Typically this type of injury and resultant surgery will take up to six weeks. And he will need every minute of that time to fully recover the use of his arm, as well as his hand. I'm sure Ramirez prescribed rest .. I will be doing the same .. and let me tell you that he truly can't afford _**not** _to listen. Six weeks without complications, no less." He smiled understandingly at Chin's low impressive whistle.

"For now, he's doing exactly what we want. He simply needs to sleep. I also have him on a strong intravenous cocktail of sorts for pain, inflammation plus an aggressive antibiotic. Don't expect him to fully awaken until much later this evening or even briefly sometime over night."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Steve eventually made it to Danny's room after Cano had been suitably locked down in another corner of the rambling hospital. DEA agents and HPD SWAT would jointly rotate full time coverage until he was out of danger from the possible and very serious side effects resulting from his bruised lung. He would then be officially charged and carted off to whatever prison or psychiatric hospital would take him until a trial was arranged. Still stunned from what had occurred, Girardi was looking for an appropriate and qualified psychiatric doctor for guidance in handling his terribly wayward ex-employee.

After losing an actual coin toss, Kono had left the hospital to close-out the remaining tasks from the raid and the arrests conducted from Five-0's perspective. She would also prepare the summarized lessons learned for the Governor. So now Chin remained camped out on the uncomfortable plastic chair at the foot of Danny's bed. A folded magazine was balanced on his knee and his head bobbed as he fought the light doze he was falling into himself.

Quietly, Steve walked over and put his gloved hand on Chin's shoulder to gently rouse him. And the man woke quickly as he rocked to his feet and then smiled as he tried to put Steve at ease.

"And?" Steve was on edge from dealing with the highly stressful situation. Moody and dark, his clothing was still damp from the rain and he entered the hospital room still fully armed and geared up. Unable to have a moment to himself, Steve was accidently much too blunt with Chin as he took in the heavy white cast, IV and Danny's lax face.

With worry edging his tone, Steve frowned. "He's still unconscious?"

There was an easy unspoken understanding of the stress level as Chin brought Steve up to speed. "Six weeks. But he'll be fine. Surgery lasted longer than we thought .. elbow was nearly dislocated. Radius was fractured in two spots. Pressure on the nerves has been relieved. Pins, plates and cast. But he will be okay."

Steve sighed deeply not only at the significantly bad injuries, but at the amount of recovery time.

"Six weeks? But he hasn't woken up yet either?" Checking his watch, Steve was surprised to find that more than five hours had passed in the blink of an eye. And he was now blatantly worried as he studied Danny's unmoving body.

"Shouldn't he be awake?"

He was only slightly relieved when Chin shook his head and explained the doctor's reasoning. "No, and we were told not to expect it for a few more hours. Besides the exhaustion and trauma, the ortho has him on a pretty strong pain medication."

There was a brief frown, as Chin expressed his concern about the entire situation. "This whole week has been nothing short of incredible. I can't believe it was Cano .. what happened to that man?"

Almost monotone, Steve lowered his voice and began to strip off his gloves and vest. And as he spoke, he laid them neatly on the small chair.

"Bobby's just as confused and he's known Cano for years. But he's sure it began with losing Ken Ito … Cano was bitter and that bitterness became a hateful rage. The hate unraveled him and he looked for anyone or anything to blame."

He ran both his hands through his hair as he studied Danny while he slept. Pointing to the bed, Steve shrugged it off as something they might not ever be able to understand. "For whatever reason, Cano chose him. From the first meeting there were issues and it just escalated. Danny became his fall guy."

But Steve was still acting distracted; much too pensive. Chin picked up on the edgy, jittery mannerisms. "He's under lock and key, so what's wrong with you? I don't think anyone can say the words psychiatric hospital quick enough."

His eyes were dark and Chin could easily see the unease and apprehension. "Cano said a few things before he was sedated. He said more was coming .. that there'd be a surprise for the dead man."

Steve leaned forward with his hands on the back of the chair and seemed suddenly very weary as he closed his eyes. "It could be nothing .. just mad ravings …but suppose he did do something else …Chin, just suppose this isn't over."

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	15. Chapter 15

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: Thank you CinderH ALWAYS! And to everyone with such continued feedback - I haven't had time to thank each of you individually. THANK YOU - each review or comment means a lot and I appreciate it. This is a bad bad saber-toothed bunny. Carrots QUIET the bunny by the way .. and I may need a bushel!_

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Fifteen – The Deep End**

He was shamming sleep and promised that he would feel bad about it later when he had the strength to deal with the two men. _Later_. One at a time. Maybe Steve first. In fact, Danny wanted and needed to speak to him about what had happened when Steve found him at the apartment. According to Ramirez, the blame Steve had placed on himself was weighing on him terribly. And based on what he'd been told, Steve did exactly what he had needed to do.

The thought almost made Danny chuckle to himself as he blearily realized that Steve would accuse him of changing the subject – deflecting - avoiding the inevitable. And it was true that of the two, Danny feared the doctor's wrath more and mostly because he'd practically lied to the one man who honestly cared about keeping him whole and out of the hospital. So Danny lay completely still, listening to the soft beeps of his heart monitor and took what he knew would be a short-lived comfort from the warm blankets he was immersed in.

Tentatively Danny flexed his fingers and winced openly at the hot puffy feeling. A stronger ache moved up into his forearm and he couldn't hide the bigger intake of breath. He reflexively tried to move his arm within the cast and his body cringed at the throbbing ache within the forgotten, heavy restrictive plaster.

The mistake in having dared to twitch a muscle was immediate when he heard Steve's voice directly above him. But the tone wasn't as angry as expected and Danny frowned in confusion. He completely expected a formal dressing down, but Steve's voice was different.

"Danny." It was a simple statement of his name said with a quiet urgency. The unveiled concern made him commit to slowly opening his eyes and he forgot about his little scheme. The room was darkened and as if it was very late at night; and Steve looked completely and utterly exhausted.

"It's about time, partner. How do you feel?"

It took Danny a few seconds to answer as he waited for the feared stabbing pains in his arm to flare. He was relieved when the throbbing peaked up to a very manageable level and then just as quickly eased. So he nodded and was entirely truthful. Whatever pain killers and anti-inflammatory he'd been prescribed was a combined blessing and he was peacefully comfortable. "Good. Arm aches a bit. But good .. warm."

There was an instant relief in Steve's eyes and he nodded with a tired sigh. "You were out a long time."

But then Ramirez's face loomed over his head and Danny blinked up in surprise. The shamming was over. Both men were in the room and Danny was sunk.

"I've been trying to tell him that." Steve was forced to back up for Doctor Ramirez as he stepped closer and re-checked Danny's vitals. "But it's true. You have been sleeping quite a long time since surgery. It's good to hear that you're feeling .. _well_." The last word was stressed and Danny swallowed nervously since the doctor's face was unreadable.

"Hey, Doc." Danny failed to smile at Ramirez and the man offered a disturbingly annoyed sounding chuff at the embarrassed reaction.

"Yes. I see you remember your promise. Your _broken_ promise to go directly home .. rest .. stay off your feet for a few days .. let your team deal with the problem at hand." Ramirez was dripping with undisguised sarcasm.

"I thought I had made it clear that I didn't wish to see you here in my hospital under these circumstances. And yet .. here you are. Again. And so very very soon. This may actually be a record of sorts.. returning in the same day."

Behind him, Danny watched as Steve's serious expression went to one of amused surprise and he stood up straighter, crossing his arms to merely watch the scene unfold. The grin only became larger as Ramirez continued and Danny's discomfort grew exponentially.

"So, you passed go. Broke your word. Went against doctor's orders. I'm not sure what it will take for you to understand plain English. Directions. Instructions. Medical advice. Maybe writing it down next time ..?"

The doctor hesitated and then drawled. "I assume you can read?"

And Danny's eyes widened in alarm and flew to Steve for support as Ramirez flippantly continued. "Your orthopedic surgeon, Doctor Tanner has left for the evening. However, he and I have shared notes on your medical case file. On your distressing ability to disobey orders and put yourself at risk. To ruin and undermine the expert skills of the fine doctor's that dedicate themselves to healing you. "

Gently, Ramirez tapped the hard white cast with his pen. "He has stressed to me that you could have done irreparable damage. Serious damage. Loss of arm. _Damage_. Career-ending. _Damage._"

Each time the word 'damage' was punctuated, Danny sunk deeper into the pillows in total mortification. Steve seemed to have forgotten how tired he was as his own grin deepened with absolute delight.

Fully expecting an answer, Ramirez glared down at Danny as if he were a first year military plebe. "So tell me. Detective. What exactly do you have to say for yourself?"

The scornful attitude and authoritative tone completely threw Danny and his mouth fell open helplessly as nothing came out. The only reply to the demand was a completely stunned and meek silence. Behind the over-bearing doctor, Steve finally burst out laughing.

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

Doctors Tanner and Rodriguez released Danny to his team's protective custody the next morning - orders of home, bed rest and a diligent regime of continued medicines were stressed. And much to Danny's annoyance, Steve was still chuckling about Rodriguez's severe lecture.

But it was Danny's turn to laugh when Steve's cell phone rang. They had literally just left Tripler when Agent Girardi called with an urgent request to see Steve and the Five-0 team at the office. Girardi had scoured Joe Cano's laptop and it was urgent that they convene. Steve agreed as long as they could meet at his offices which were closer to both Tripler and his home.

Danny's eyebrows went up happily when he heard half the conversation. "Really? This is going to be your fault? You're taking full responsibility? I'm sure that you'll be able to explain why you took the recovering patient to the office. I want this in writing ..'I, Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett willingly broke the first Rule of Ramirez and …'"

"Shut it Danno." Steve was both laughing and worried as he ended the call. "Five minutes and we're leaving. Just five minutes." The amused grunt from the passenger seat left him quietly cursing.

During the meeting with Girardi, Danny was forced to lie on the couch in Steve's office. Feet up, light blanket and propped up with whatever pillow or cushion could be stolen and re-used, he listened intently as Girardi showed the four team members the trail of data and photos tracing back to when Cano returned to work full-time.

Girardi heaved another embarrassed sigh and walked over to Danny. "I can't apologize enough. Joe was so different .. so much easier to work with .. there was no reason to question or consider he might have gone so far off the deep end."

"But do we think anything else has been planned?" Steve glanced worriedly over to Danny's pensive face. He wouldn't let Cano's last parting words go as he spun the laptop around to frown at Grace's school photo.

Bobby made a face since they were still researching much of Cano's recent happenings. "He paid cash for whatever he had done thus far. But I wanted you to be up-to-speed on everything we find related to this. Beginning with the laptop files. I want to extend complete transparency to you all."

The agent was doing his best to mend fences as he continued his explanation. "The flowers seem to be just an oddity. Just an arbitrary tool that Joe picked with no real meaning. However, my team is pulling all of his phone, banking and credit card details this morning. We're going to review all of his latest transactions .. make sure we didn't miss anything. I'll have those findings sent to you as well."

Kono nodded and confirmed for Steve. "And I've asked Duke to go over the apartment again and we're keeping an HPD unit with the Edwards."

Danny sighed miserably from his position on the couch as he waved his left hand dismissively. "Just get him some help and then ship him to wherever crazy DEA people go."

"The mainland." Girardi allowed a brief smile to flash across his face at Danny's words. "Once he's released and able to travel. I've lined up professional help and he will be hospitalized."

But they were interrupted as a delivery man entered the main office area. Both Kono and Steve went out to meet him as he hauled in an elaborate floral display. The wreath was laden with a spray of yellow rosebuds, pink lilies, and mini carnations. The matching yellow ribbon across the front of the pretty flowers clearly said 'In Memory Of'.

The breath caught in Danny's throat as he struggled to his feet. With Chin and Girardi's help, he made his way over to the display and plucked the card from Steve's trembling fingers. Quietly, Kono inserted herself between the now petrified FTD florist delivery man and Steve.

The accompanying sympathy card included standard printed words that honored the life of the deceased and offered most sincere condolences. In this case, for the sad loss of Detective Danny Williams. And the card was inscribed boldly as being from Joseph E. Cano.

Without a word, Danny paled as he handed the card to Bobby Girardi. He swayed for a moment, feeling sick and off balance. He barely heard Kono's startled exclamation or realized that he now sat in a chair in the middle of the room as chaos erupted around him. Steve and Kono were making sure that he didn't fall over and pass out from the shock, but he was wholly unable to speak. Blearily he gazed at Steve's face but didn't hear the words.

Chin was loudly interrogating the delivery man but all he seemed to know was the name and address of the customers he made deliveries to each day. With a violently shaking hand, he gave them his employer's business card .. a normal FTD florist. It was a different florist from the one Cano had used in the past .. Mrs. Jan Wu was not involved.

On speaker phone, they all listened as the owner of this second florist told them that Cano had called the FTD eight hundred telephone number and ordered what was described as a funeral wreath. Except, that he had ordered two of the same wreaths and had added the yellow roses to each display. She explained that orders were funneled automatically to the closest approved FTD vendor; in this case, her establishment. She had no other information but could confirm payment by credit card.

Danny nearly choked as the owner recited the second delivery address and Steve had to hold him down now in the chair. "Grace .. " He was sweating, ashen, and feeling nauseous. But Cano's parting actions had affected them all.

"Easy, Danny. Relax .. we'll fix it. Kono …" But Kono was already rapid dialing the phone number. Turning to the delivery man, Steve pointed in a fury. "And get this damned thing out of here. Now." Panicked, the man grabbed it and bolted from the buidling spilling broken flowers as he left.

Steve had then been adamant about canceling that other delivery – demanding - pleading. He was fairly shouting into the speaker phone at the owner who seemed to be in tears. But it was too late to stop and it had already been done. The second wreath and sympathy card had already been delivered to the Edward's residence. To Rachel Edwards in care for Ms. Grace Williams.

And the DEA supervisor was almost speechless. Girardi was barely on his own feet while he white-knuckled the desk for support. Not only had his agent Joe Cano intended to kill Danny sometime the day before, Cano had also fully expected to be long gone. And even though Cano had not managed to kill Danny in the timely way as intended, both floral displays achieved a much desired effect. Regardless of not entirely getting his way, Cano would have been pleased.

They were ten minutes too late in reaching Rachel or the HPD unit stationed at the residence. She was at home and still wondering about the HPD presence when the main gate bell rang. She allowed the delivery man in thinking that Stan had surprised her with flowers. She smiled as the HPD officer escorted him through the drive but hesitated when she saw the large wreath, the yellow emblazoned ribbon and it's metal stand.

Slowly, she accepted the odd display and then turned away to read the card as the officer began to see the delivery man off the property.

That same officer was back within seconds when Rachel's horrified screams reached his ears. A few minutes later, her telephone was ringing. But wracked by sobs, she was still unable to answer it.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	16. Chapter 16

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Sixteen – The Deep End**

After the call ended with the florist, Steve almost rushed Danny back to Tripler. In fact, the entire team would have agreed with the decision. It was obvious that Danny was more than just a little unsteady and possibly in a very real state of shock. Kono had wrapped the same light blanket from Steve's office around his shoulders while he sat in the middle of the room and was rubbing his left arm soothingly. He was shaking, much too pale and stuttering over his own words. And when Steve helped him to stand and take the weight off his wounded leg, his one good hand was ice cold.

"Come on, back to the couch before you fall down. But we'll fix this. We will." The dangerous glare he gave Bobby Girardi demanded that he get more information about whatever else Joe Cano might have up his nasty sleeve.

With a quick head bob, Girardi left them in an anxious haste to expedite his people's work. He grabbed Chin's shoulder warmly before leaving and did his best to convey his sincerity.

"I promise you that I will have more to end this. One way or another, I will."

But when Steve hesitantly admitted to Danny that no one had actually spoken to Rachel since before the raid had been moved up .. since the incident with the drugs .. or even now since his surgery .. Danny completely refused all else. He awkwardly changed direction to veer towards the doors and away from Steve's office. He was abnormally quiet, reticent even, but his demand was clear.

"Rachel first. She doesn't _**know**_." Danny's eyes were desperate as he tried to pull away and nearly stumbled. "Rachel doesn't know. Then .. your place ..not the hospital. Not now."

The words were whispered in a drained bleak voice and Steve was forced to relent. With an agonized sigh, Steve finally agreed as he and Chin helped Danny to the Camaro. Steve then dialed Rachel before he put the car into gear and managed a brief conversation with the distraught woman.

Danny had his eyes closed while he listened quietly. "What else have you done?" He murmured to himself as he dwelled on what could have happened to Grace if she had been home for the delivery.

His barely voiced words earned him a worried glance from Steve. But as Danny anticipated - as he well knew - Rachel herself believed his death was all too real. He heard it through Steve's tone and by what he was saying; he heard the muffled crying on the other side of the phone. Rachel whole heartedly did believe that something terrible had happened to him. So it took Steve a good many minutes to calm her and then make Rachel understand that it was all a horribly sick joke related to the recent issues with the yellow rose given to Grace.

"He's here. Sitting next to me. We're on our way over this very minute. Rachel, it's okay. He's alright. Here, speak to him." And then he handed the cell phone over to Danny. The brief conversation was distressingly emotional and Steve grimaced as Danny seemed to wither even more.

Steve was softly cursing by the time he'd gotten close to the Edward's home. Danny was slumped down in the passenger seat and his eyes were still closed in a much too pale face. And after ending the call with Rachel, he hadn't said a single word. Steve was openly relieved to see Rachel waiting in the driveway before they even pulled up. The gate was wide open and the HPD officer was standing next to her. The second floral display was nowhere to be seen and for that, Steve was thankful.

"Stay in the car. Do me that favor." Another anxious look at Danny caused Steve to voice the quiet request. He looked worn, older and completely drained of all feeling. "Danny, are you okay? Are you up to this?"

But now as they pulled in and Steve voiced his concerns, Danny squirmed to sit straighter, he rallied and then completely schooled his features. Within the few seconds it took to park, Danny was still pale but definitely in control. Without looking over, he didn't take his eyes from Rachel as she quickly approached the car.

"I'm fine Steven." In five seconds Danny had adopted a firm tone that brooked no argument. The change in his demeanor was astonishing and Steve bit his tongue unhappily. He remained utterly speechless as Rachel automatically yanked open the passenger door and Danny managed a genuine smile and to warmly take her hand with his left.

But with a tearful glance to Steve, she seemed to already know. And her eyes widened at the bruises on his wrists, bandaged stitches on his temple, and the heavily casted arm. Before Danny could move to get out of the car, Rachel was perched on the door frame and pushing him back down.

"What is all this then? If your fine?" Rachel scolded as she gently sketched her fingers over the small bandage on his forehead and then didn't know where to touch him for the cast. She began to cry again and eventually Danny just used his left hand to pull her down into a hug.

"I'm okay Rach .. really."

Steve heard her tearfully mumble into Danny's shoulder and softly snorted before leaving the car. He should have known better and a glimmer of a smile reached his lips when he made her words out. "You're a terrible liar Daniel. Always have been."

Walking over to the HPD officer, Steve was blunt and all business as he asked about the floral display. "Where is it?"

The officer pointed to his cruiser. "It's in the trunk. I wasn't sure what to do or if it needed to be held as evidence. But I knew it shouldn't stay out."

Steve nodded his thanks and then waited for as long as it took for Rachel and Danny to say their peace. After a few minutes, Rachel waved him back over.

"I don't know what to say." Definitely calmer, Rachel had slowly gotten herself back together as she wiped any remaining tears from her eyes. Danny was still subdued but very much relieved at having the opportunity for the short visit. Rachel kept one hand anchored to his shoulder as she stammered bewildered words to Steve.

"And your face. Did that happen as part of this .. whatever you two are calling it?" Steve nearly ducked back in surprise when Rachel reached out and softly touched his cheek. He'd totally forgotten about the bruised discoloration from where Danny had connected with him at the apartment. But before Steve could answer, Rachel had moved on with her own very upset tirade.

"This is crazy. I really _thought_ ..I _believed it_ … why would someone do this? And to use a child?" Anger now filled her eyes as she sank back down to sit on the frame of the car. She and Danny stared at each other intently and she eventually shook her head in a disgusted wonder.

"It's mean. Evil. Who could do such a thing?" Rachel whispered as she stopped and caught herself again from beginning to cry. Not wanting to leave, Rachel forced herself to give Danny a final hug and kiss. With a natural ease, she made him stay seated in the car by simply and quite firmly closing the passenger side door. Shen walked briskly to Steve and grabbed his arm.

"I'm just glad you have this lunatic in custody and that Grace was in school." Rachel bent down quickly and gave a weak smile to Danny through the car window before making a final point to Steve in a hushed whisper. "And he's lying. He's not feeling well."

There was nothing to do but agree and Steve simply drove at that point. Directly to his own house and efficiently got Danny off his feet. It was the longest period of time that Steve had ever been around the man with the least amount of conversation. Danny had dropped the act and not only was it worrisome, it was absolutely unnerving. Once again he looked ashen. Subtle painful tremors ran through his body.

His anger finally surfaced when Steve once again suggested a visit back to the hospital. "I said no, Steven. Either leave me alone or take me to my place so I can be alone .. but just stop asking."

Steve had set his jaw irritably at that point and then had made a concerted effort to get soup, antibiotics and pain medication into Danny as he lay propped on many pillows. Now he sat quietly in the bedroom as Danny's eyes slowly began to slide shut and color started to return to his face. But without apology, Steve found himself getting up from where he sat. Unable to help himself, he insisted on checking Danny's pulse and temperature one more time.

"Humor me." Steve said defiantly as Danny's eyes flew open at the continued ministrations. He was pleased to find that Danny's left hand was more naturally warm and that the sporadic tremors had finally eased; but a second blanket soon followed the first. With yet another aggravated and very loud sigh, Steve finally sat down with a soft thump.

"Don't worry so much." The complaint was mild and breathed out on an exhale. And there was finally a hint of a smile behind the words. That glimmer of normality was enough to begin the slow easing of Steve's own worries.

The next statement was voiced equally quietly, but held an honest sincerity. "Thanks. I'm good. Really."

Danny was bone-tired and he had seen Rachel touch Steve's bruised cheek. It had reminded him that he wanted to have that conversation with Steve about the drugs and what he'd had to do to protect Danny from himself. But now he was just too drained and so made another promise to talk later or even the next morning. Both men were distracted and tense under the surface. It just wasn't the right time yet.

As Doctor Tanner had warned, the pain medication was strong and Danny couldn't help himself from beginning to fall asleep. He felt peacefully detached from the pain in his arm as he began to drift. The house was quiet, safe and he found himself relaxing even more. But before giving in he tiredly caught Steve's eye from where it had been guiltily studying Danny's injured arm and bruised wrists.

"Not your fault. You worry too much." Danny murmured quietly and his eyes slid shut again. He was barely able to get out what he wanted to say. "Later. Let's talk tomorrow."

Almost three long and very stressful hours after leaving Tripler, the patient was finally following doctor's orders. Steve rubbed his face in a weary misery and leaned back bonelessly in his chair. He voiced his reply in a bitterly soft whisper but already asleep, Danny never heard him.

"Sure, Danno. Get some sleep now. I'll be here."

Once again if Cano had been witness to the morning's events, he'd place a successful check mark next to his goal of unsettling Danny Williams. And he'd get extra credit for doing the same to the other members of his team.

_**~ to be continued ~**_


	17. Chapter 17 END

**I do not own Hawaii Five-0 or any characters. No copyright infringement intended.**

_Note: Wow everyone – thank you for such AWESOME reviews, comments and praise. I'm truly overwhelmed. ! And Thank You again CinderH!_

_I think this is the last chapter – though I haven't marked the story as COMPLETE yet. I think the bunnies are dried up and put away in their respective hutches. I would GREATLY appreciate any advice or comments about this being a successful final chapter._

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

**Chapter Seventeen – The Deep End**

It took an actual hour for Steve to physically gather the energy needed to stand up and walk out of the bedroom. Truth be told, he was mentally exhausted by the ever-changing playing field and didn't feel like moving a muscle in the pleasantly quiet and darkened room. And he was physically exhausted from rolling from hospital to raid and then back to hospital once again. The last few days had begun to blend together into a series of desperate emergencies which he'd accepted and dealt with as each were lobbed his way. Blow after blow; shock after paralyzing shock. So he was home now and reveling in it. Plus Danny was sleeping soundly right under his very nose and would be for many hours.

The house was peaceful and shadows of sunlight peeked through the drawn blinds. Once again, Steve felt himself being to doze and shook himself awake. He needed to contact the Governor and was anxious to hear what Girardi and the DEA had uncovered from Cano's records. Kono and Chin would have more information. So with a resigned sigh, he forced himself to silently leave the bedroom with plans to make his series of calls and inquiries from the lanai.

But by the end of the day, Steve was even more exhausted if that was possible. The Governor had been pleased by the raid's success and then absolutely infuriated by the news regarding former agent Cano and Danny's injuries. There had been a stunned silence on the phone after Steve recounted the deliveries of the funeral displays.

"_Be assured that this office will be conducting its own inquiry into the DEA and on our combined behalf. Both its dealings, as well as its employees. I expect you to let me know if Williams needs anything …resources are at your disposal." _

Steve's final calls were then to both Chin and Kono at the office. He was happy to hear that Agent Russell had contacted them separately and had provided the same information as Steve himself had received directly from Bobby Girardi.

Chin couldn't help being sarcastic and Steve found himself chuckling at the truth of it. _"A little late for consistency though .. don't you think?_"

It was now widely believed that the floral displays were Cano's last action against Danny. His own cell phone call records and credit card activity validated that he'd made the FTD order while at the raid. Exactly during the time period when he'd been asked to check a faulty communications device for one of his people. His work space and private home had also been virtually dismantled.

A small tear in a bag of LSD within the DEA's own lockers had been discovered. Prints lifted from the bag matched those of Agent Joe Cano. Yellow rose petals had been found in his jacket pocket and the HPD mechanic confirmed that the switchblade could easily have been the weapon used to destroy the tires on the Camaro. It all added up and it was thorough. Nothing else had been found - nothing new seemed to be on the horizon.

Girardi was positive that Cano meant to kill Danny himself, face to face for the satisfaction, and during the originally planned raid when the teams would be jointly working together.

On the phone with Steve, he'd try to offer an explanation. "_Moving the raid up, and my having Joe come in at the last minute as support to the Command Center .. may have saved Danny's life_. "

And then Girardi hastily amended his words. "_In a way .. an odd way. Joe didn't seem to know where Danny was at the time. He saw your own injury and knew something had happened. He knew that Danny never attended the second meeting. He could ascertain that his plans with dusting the milk had worked in some horrible way. Joe was assuming Danny was hospitalized or back at his own apartment. The decision to call Joe in to work at the last minute at least delayed his plans. He wasn't entirely ready, and for that we should be glad. However the intent was still there. The call to the FTD florist with this sick plan was made."_

There was another hesitation as Girardi struggled with a sad realization. "_But then Danny practically handed himself over on a silver platter when he showed up unannounced at the raid. Joe tried to adapt his plan to use the raid as a cover._"

Steve could tell that the man was personally overwhelmed by his employee's complete mental collapse; he could hear the genuine remorse in his voice. And even though Steve liked Girardi, he remained coldly non-committal as he listened politely to the man's words of apology. "_I'm sorry .. there's no easy way to understand any of this. But I can say that there's no evidence that anything else has been put into motion._"

So now speaking to Chin and Kono, they were able to confirm nearly the same conversation with Agent Russell. Chin then said that he, Kono and HPD had additionally gone over Danny's apartment a second time with a fine-toothed comb. They then extended their search to the Edward's residence. Nothing had been found and there was no sign of further tampering of any kind thus far.

"_It seems like it's really over. Cano's done. How's Danny doing_?" Kono asked before the call ended. "_And Rachel?_"

Because he wanted to believe, Steve didn't say anything about it truly being over with Cano. He personally wanted more and didn't yet know what that meant. Only that he wanted _more_ to be satisfied and to know for certain. To be one hundred and ten percent, without a doubt, wholly positive. And he had to push down another surge of very real anger as he thought about Danny, Rachel and Grace's very innocent involvement.

Stifling a frustrated groan, Steve settled for merely checking his watch and then answered her final questions about Danny and Rachel. In the back of his mind, he was once again surprised to see how many hours had passed almost in the blink of an eye. The afternoon was clearly over and it was nearing six o'clock. And though he had virtually force-fed soup down Danny, Steve couldn't remember having eaten lunch for himself.

"Good. They're both good. And Danny's still sleeping."

"_You sound tired too._" The blunt statement made him snort softly and he heard Chin chuckle ruefully in the background. They were all tired. But Steve hadn't realized how rough his voice had become from the constant phone calls, talking and discussions he'd had over the course of the day. And he truthfully was totally worn out at the never-ending amount of stressful worry.

"Yeah, well. We'll catch up later. Both of you should go home." Ending the call, Steve rubbed his eyes and then tiredly looked up from where he was sitting. He half expected to see Danny carefully hobbling towards him. After all, he'd now been sleeping nearly five full hours. But the house was completely still. Quietly puttering in the kitchen and before going to check on his patient, Steve put more soup on the stove and fixed a pot of coffee for himself.

But Steve was surprised to see that Danny was already awake and trying to reposition his casted arm on a pillow. And though he looked uncomfortable and would soon be due for his pain medication, his color was back - more normal. Danny was acting more like himself.

"How long have you been up? Dinner's on if you want a change of scenery. Or here's fine. Whatever you want."

Danny's unexpected reply made him smile for it was half truth and half deflection. It was also chock full of questions, demands and almost bordered on being a mini rant of sorts. It was definitely more normal as it came out in a mixed tone that somehow managed to combine annoyance, relief and serious concern.

His face was disapproving as he studied Steve's rumpled appearance and now almost bloodshot eyes. "You look as tired as I feel. Did you get any rest or have you been working all day? And if you've been working .. which of course, I know you have been .. because I know you're like a dog with a bone .. tell me, what have you found out about Cano. What have I missed?"

With a tolerant grin, Steve made room to sit on the bed and helped fix the pillow more comfortably under the cast. "So, from what you're saying I assume that _one_, you're still exhausted. And _two_, you'd rather stay in bed and eat here. Since our good doctors want you off your feet and getting as much rest as possible, all of these things can easily be accommodated."

"And?" Danny's persistent query was accompanied by a pointed stare that included a dramatic raise of his eyebrows. "Yes .. and .. _so_?"

Steve's smile grew as he shared the recent news. And as he spoke, Steve did allow himself to believe more of what both the DEA and his own team had just confirmed. But he refused to say the hated man's name as he filled Danny in.

"Everything. And I mean _everything_ has been checked from top to bottom and then back again. The Governor is launching an additional independent investigation into the DEA offices. Nothing's left. It's done. _He's_ done. Like Chin said before, we all can't say the words 'psychiatric hospital' fast enough. Once he's released for travel, Girardi's sending him far away."

The additional change in Danny was immediate and the deep worry lines that creased his face simply eased and then entirely disappeared. With an exaggerated puff of air, he fell more deeply back into the pillows and whispered.

"Good. That's good. Thank you."

After a few minutes, Danny sighed and used his left hand to pick at Steve's sleeve in order to get his attention. Even though the evidence and news was good, Steve's eyes had remained hooded and dark. He was distracted and still very much wracked with worry. There was an uncomfortable silence as Steve avoided meeting Danny's eyes; he knew that Danny was studying the bruises on his cheekbone. And he regretfully rubbed a hand over his face since he knew what was coming next.

"Danny .. I .." But his struggle to speak was interrupted.

"Ramirez told me what happened. His version at least. His version of what must have happened added to what you told him." Danny was determined to get to the bottom of Steve's guilt.

"You don't know my version though." The words were said in a hushed whisper and Steve finally looked up in surprise at Danny's face.

"What do you mean _your_ version?" But with a sinking heart, Steve knew the answer before he'd asked the question. Danny had been wholly unaware of the violent act against him and then he'd been unable to stop the drug's eventual terrifying control.

"Oh man." Steve whispered to himself as he recognized the glimmer of fear in Danny's eyes. "Danny.."

"Steve. I saw the blood. The apartment." Danny started and then stopped nervously. The memories were vague, fuzzy but the feelings of confusion and panic were still there. It was all very close to the surface and Danny needed to talk it out as much as he knew that Steve did.

"I need you to know this." He clenched his left hand in the blankets as he continued. "Steve, I'm glad it was you. I'm _relieved_ it was you and that you showed up when you did. All I wanted to do that night was have a quiet dinner. But then it happened."

With a shuddering breath, Danny began to tremble but persisted. He waved off Steve's worried face but allowed his hand to be snagged in mid air. He clutched at it like a lifeline as what he could remember came out in a frightening rush.

"It was like the flesh was melting off my bones. First my skin moved .. it _moved_ and then I could see through it .. I knew it wasn't real. But it _was_ real at the same time. And I just wanted it gone. I needed it to go away. I wanted to kill whatever it was and get away." The terror resurfaced and Danny's voice became barely audible. His face was nearly ashen and he began to sweat from the memory.

Steve was afraid that he'd begun to have the stirrings of a panic attack as he tried to place another calming hand on Danny's good shoulder. "Easy, Danny. Maybe we shouldn't talk about this yet. You're not up to it. It's too much for one day."

Steve's eyes glazed over and he looked down to stare blindly at the blanket. "Maybe I'm not up to it."

But Danny shook his head and refused to change the subject. He finally whispered angrily. "No. Steve, I don't remember even pulling out my gun. But I think I would have shot myself. I think I almost shot you."

And then Steve didn't know what to say. He hadn't even remotely considered Danny's perspective - the horrifying reality of the actual experience and how it affected the victim. The fight had been terrible. Danny had been out of his mind and Steve personally resented the extent to which he'd been forced to go in order to protect him; to get the situation under control. He hated what had been done to Danny and wanted in his heart to kill Joe Cano now more than ever before.

"I'm sorry. For the cuffs .. for the whole thing. " He breathed out sadly and he really meant it about everything. From the very existence of a maniac named Joe Cano, to having used handcuffs on his best friend, and now to Danny's current bedridden state. "Danno, I'm sorry."

But Danny only began to smile and slapped Steve's hand before poking him hard in the chest. "I don't want you to be _sorry_, you goof. I need you to understand that if this had to happen .. that I'm glad _you_ were there. No more, no less."

Steve blinked a few times to clear the vision he hadn't realized was beginning to fog. And then absolutely couldn't find any other words to say. All his planned apologies, voiced regrets, and feelings of guilt dried up and seemed wholly inadequate.

With a more relieved and genuine smile, Steve realized it was true. He managed to agree quietly and with total sincerity; and it fully eased his mind and allowed him to absolve himself from any guilt.

"Yeah Danno." Steve nodded as the words finally comforted him. "Yeah. I'm glad I was there too."

**H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* H5O* **

After his team ran a full investigation against Joe Cano from top to bottom, Bobby Girardi went back to Tripler to confront his ex-agent. Cano would remain hospitalized until cleared by his doctors for a pulmonary contusion or bruised lung. He was still at risk of hypoxia or even pneumonia and his oxygen levels were being closely monitored. Once he was cleared for travel, Cano would be flown back to the mainland and either incarcerated or hospitalized under professional, long-term care. In either scenario, he would not be released back into society.

It was raining again and Bobby ran into the hospital as thunder sounded overhead. Cano was under guard and would remain under guard through his stay at Tripler. He was also handcuffed to his bed and coughing miserably from the uncomfortable pains in his chest. When he saw Girardi though, his eyes flashed angrily but with a hint of smug satisfaction. And one of the HPD SWAT officers stepped closer to monitor the exchange as the very air in the room changed to one of blatant hostility.

"I assume the lovely flowers were delivered. Did his family enjoy them?" Cano nastily remarked as he studied his ex-boss for a reaction.

But Girardi merely shrugged and managed to look noncommittal as he shook rainwater off his jacket. "I have no idea. But I do want to know why you did any of this at all."

For a brief moment, Bobby was sadly subdued as he ran his hand through his hair and then folded his arms to watch Cano. "Joe, when did you change and how did I miss it?"

It was difficult for the supervisor to cross-examine a man he'd known and worked with for so many years. However, Girardi's own fury had grown and his voice now began to rise as he demanded answers. And as it did, Cano's face changed to take on a lethal and dangerous expression. With a final pang of sadness at the loss, Girardi accepted that the person in front of him wasn't someone he knew.

So now with an undisguised anger, Girardi leaned forward ominously. "Of course we've already dismantled your computer, files, records, bank accounts. Including your personal assets. We've found everything and it's all been submitted as evidence. You'll get help – _maybe_ – but rest assured, you will then go away for a very long time."

When there was still no reaction but for the permanent sneer stretched across the man's face, Girardi continued. "I would suggest – strongly – that if there's something else we need to know .. that you tell me now. That is, if you still hold a spark of humanity?"

Continuing to leer, Joe Cano said the only words he would ever say to anyone before being transferred back to the mainland. "Wouldn't you all like to know. Let him wonder. Let him always look over his shoulder."

At that, he pointedly relaxed into the pillows as another coughing fit seized him. Closing his eyes, Cano began to laugh happily through the sporadic hacking. In seconds he was wiping hysterical tears away from his face with a white tissue.

Startled once more by the sudden transformation, Bobby Girardi exchanged a distressed look with the equally shocked HPD SWAT officer. Cano only re-opened his eyes when he sensed Girardi had gone. With disdain for everything and everyone around him, he simply used the remote to turn on the television and began to laugh again as the sounds of the storm increased outside his hospital window.

_**~ maybe the end? ~**_


End file.
